or he would "dire la chansonnette," and what with his sympathetic
tenor and his intuitive knowledge of music, he seemed to be able
to express more than many who had had the advantage of a musical
training. A few old letters of his remind me that we were audacious
enough to write verses and music, he doing the former, I the latter.

"Here's something I particularly want you to do," he writes. "Take
strong coffee, inspire yourself, think of your 'Ideal,' and compose
some very pretty music to the enclosed words, with which Rag's ideal
flame has inspired Rag--_surtout_, let it be as good as possible, with
accompaniment _à l'avenant_. An alteration in the music of each stanza
would render the gradation of energy expressed in the words, 'Je
compte sur toi.'" (How du Maurier came by the name of "Rag" I must
tell later on.) Then follow the words:--

CHANSON.

_D'apres un barde Britannique_.[1]

Les sources vont à la rivière
Et la rivière à l'océan;
Les monts embrassent la lumière,
Le vent du ciel se mêle au vent;
Contre le flot, le flot se presse;
Rien ne vit seul--tout semble, ici,
Se fondre en la commune ivresse....
Et pourquoi pas nous deux aussi?
Vois le soleil étreint la terre,
Qui rougit d'aise à son coucher--
La lune étreint les flots, qu'éclaire