e walked back to the studio I returned to the previous subject, and
asked him whether, as was generally supposed, he dashed through his
books after a painstaking preliminary work.

He denied this.

"It is an error; I work very hard."

"What way do you proceed then, _cher maitre_?"

"Well, I never prepare a plot. I cannot do it. I have frequently
meditated for hours, buried my head in my hands, closed my eyes, and got
ill over it. But no use. I finally gave it up. What I do is to make
three kinds of studies for each novel. The first I call a sketch, viz.,
I determine the dominant idea of the book, and the elements required to
develop this idea. I also establish certain logical connections between
one series of facts and another. The next _dossier_ contains a study of
the character of each actor in my work. For the principal ones I go even
further. I enquire into the character of both father and mother, their
life, the influence of their mutual relations on the temperament of
the child. The way the latter was brought up, his schooldays, the
surroundings and his associates up to the time I introduce him in my
book. You see, therefore, I sail as close to nature as possible, and
even take into account his personal appearance, health and heredity. My
third preoccupation is to study the surroundings into which I intend to
place my actors, the locality and the spot where certain parts may be
acted. I enquire into the manners, habits, character, language, and even
learn the jargon of the inhabitants of such localities.

"I frequently take pencil sketches and measurement of rooms, and know
exactly how the furniture is placed. Finally, I know the appearance of
such quarters by night and by day. After I have collected laboriously
all this material, I sit down to my work regularly every morning, and do
not write more than three pages of print a day."

"How long does it take you to produce that?"

"Well, not very long. The subject is so vivid that the work proceeds
slowly, but without interruption. In fact, I hardly ever make any
erasures or alterations, and once my sheet is written and laid aside, I
do not look at it again. The next morning I resume the thread, and the
story proceeds to the end by logical progression.

[Illustration: THE DINING ROOM.]

"I work like a mathematician. Before I begin I know into how many
chapters the novel shall be divided. The descriptive parts have an
allotted space, and if they are too long