LA DERNIÈRE CLASSE

ALPHONSE DAUDET was born at Nîmes in 1840, and died in 1897. One of the most celebrated writers of the present day, he is most famous on account of his short stories (Lettres di mon Moulin, Contes du lundi, &c.) and his depicting of the typical provençal (Tartarin de Tarascon, Tartarin sur les 11pes, &c.), loquacious, g00d-humured and boastful. The two following tales show his entrancing style, with its skilful mingling of humour and pathos.

La Dernière Classe, written to stir the patriotism of his readers, is the account given by àn Alsatian boy of the last day of school under his old French teacher, On t:e cession of Alsace and Lorraine by the French aft he war of 1870. the German government replaced all the i ,mer officials in an endeavour to secure a firmer hold on the country,

Ce matin-là j'étais très en retard pour aller à l’école, et j'avais grand’peur d’être crondé, d’autan plu que M. Hamel nous avait dit aw’il : us interrogerait sur les par-

Hcipes, et je n’en savais pas le premier mot. Un moment

l’idée me vint de m quer la classe et de prendre ma course à travers chaimnnes

Le temps était si chaud. si clair!

On entendait les merles siffler à la lisière du bois, et

dans le pré Rippert. derrière la scierie. les Prussiens, qui