n it, the moonlight on the Cupids that kept guard at
intervals along the top of a snakelike stone fence--and Fitch, vital,
happy in his work, happy in his friends, happy in life, as he had
planned to live it in the years to come. And death waiting him across
the water!

"Beau Brummell" began Clyde Fitch's career as a dramatist. It was
produced at the New York Madison Square Theatre, May 17, 1890. At that
time he had not evinced any determination to be a dramatist--but was
writing juvenile sketches for _The Churchman_, afterwards gathered in
a charming volume called "The Knighting of the Twins, and Ten Other
Tales" (1891). Previous to this, he had attempted "A Wave of Life"--a
novel whose chief value is autobiographic. Then he showed his clever
facility at dialogue in a collection of "Six Conversations and Some
Correspondence;" also in "The Smart Set." But, after the success of
"Brummell," followed by "Frederic Lemaitre" (December 1, 1890) for
Henry Miller, a dramatic season hardly passed that Fitch was not
represented on the bill-boards by two or three comedies. It was very
rarely that he rewrote his dramas under new titles; it was unusual for
him to use over again material previously exploited. Exceptions to
this were in the cases of "The Harvest," a one-act sketch given by the
New York Theatre of Arts and Letters (January 26, 1893), afterwards
(April 11, 1898) included as an act of "The Moth and the Flame;"
"Mistress Betty" (October 15, 1895), for Mme. Modjeska, afterwards
revamped as "The Toast of the Town" (November 27, 1905) for Viola
Allen. Interest in the period of Beau Brummell stretched over into
"The Last of the Dandies" for Beerbohm Tree. But otherwise the bulk of
his work came each season as a Fitch novelty. He often played against
himself, the popularity of one play killing the chances of the other.
For instance, when "Lovers' Lane" opened in New York, there were also
running "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines," "Barbara Frietchie" and
"The Climbers." When "The Cowboy and the Lady" was given in
Philadelphia, "Nathan Hale" beat it in box-office receipts, and Fitch
wrote to a friend: "If any play is going to beat it, I'd rather it was
one of mine, eh?"

By the time he was ready to write "The Moth and the Flame," Fitch had
won distinction with a variety of picturesque pieces, like "His Grace
de Grammont," for Otis Skinner, and "Nathan Hale," for Goodwin and
Maxine Elliott. It may be said to have come just w