this world. He was living, I think,
outside of the city, in a remote corner with other poets, a band of joyous
Bohemians. He was beautiful, with the delicate, nervous beauty of an
Arabian horse, an ample mane, a silky divided beard, large eyes, a thin
nose, a passionate mouth, and, to crown all that, a certain flash of
light, a breath of tender voluptuousness, which bathed his whole face in a
smile that was both roguish and sensual. There was in him something of the
Parisian Street gamin and something of the Oriental woman."[1]

[Footnote 1: "Les Romanciers naturalistes," pp. 256-257.]

Daudet's first volume was a collection of verse, "Les Amoureuses" (1858,
published by Tardieu, a Provencal). These simple poems are charming in
their freshness and naivete, and established Daudet's reputation as a
writer of light verse. The whole volume, and especially "Les Prunes,"
attracted the attention of the Empress Eugenie. At her solicitation Daudet
was made one of the secretaries of the powerful Duke of Morny, president
of the _corps legislatif_ (1860). His duties were purely nominal. He now
had money enough to keep the wolf from his door and was free to devote
himself to literature.

It was at this time that the stage began to attract him. His first play,
"La Derniere Idole," was produced at the Odeon in 1862. Almost every other
year between 1862 and 1892 a new play, on untried themes, or adapted from
one of his novels and usually written in collaboration, appeared at a
Parisian theater. Of all these only one, "L'Arlesienne" (1872), is worthy
of its author.

Already in 1859, as a result of the suffering of the preceding years and
lack of precautions, his health had begun to fail. He spent the winters of
1861-1864 in Algeria, Corsica, and Provence. These voyages were of vital
importance in his development. He learned something of the world and
became better fitted to study conditions in his own narrow sphere; at the
same time he acquired the power of vigorous description and collected
material for some of his finest short stories and for the Tartarin series.

A portion of the summer of 1861 he dreamed away in an abandoned mill[1]
near Fontvieille, between Tarascon and Arles. From here he sent to the
Parisian newspapers _L'Evenement_ and _Le Figaro_ those delightful stories
and sketches which were gathered and published in 1869 under the title
"Lettres de mon moulin." Of all the many volumes of Daudet's collected
works this