in the French Aviation Corps for two years and
had just been invalided home, I didn't think it necessary to establish
an alibi. But I hastened to express my sympathy for his predicament.
Fate had been kind to Dick Searles. In college he had written a play or
two that demonstrated his talent, and after a rigid apprenticeship as
scene-shifter and assistant producer he had made a killing with "Let
George Do It," a farce that earned enough to put him at ease and make
possible an upward step into straight comedy. Even as we talked a
capacity house was laughing at his skit, "Who Killed Cock Robin?" just
around the corner from his lodgings. So his story was not the invention
of a rejected playwright to cover the non-appearance of a play which
nobody would produce.

"Isn't it always a mistake to write a play for a particular star?" I
suggested. "Seems to me I've read somewhere that that is among the
besetting sins of you playwrights."

"Old stuff, my boy; but this isn't one of those cases. The person I had
in mind for this play wasn't a star, but a beginner, quite unknown. It
was when I was in London putting on 'Fairy Gold' that I saw her; she had
a small part in a pantomime, and pantomime is the severest test of an
actor's powers, you know. A little later she appeared in 'Honourable
Women,' a capital play that died early, but there again I felt her
peculiar charm--it was just that. Her part was a minor one, but she wore
it as she might wear a glove; she was exquisite! No one ever captured my
imagination as she did. I watched her night after night. I was afraid
that when I heard her voice it would break the spell, and I actually
shook like a man with an ague when she tripped out on the stage as the
ingenue in 'Honourable Women.' And her laughter! You know how hollow the
usual stage mirth is, but that girl's laugh had the joy of the lark
ascending!"

"By Jove!" I ejaculated, "there's more here than appears. You're in love
with the girl!"

"Rubbish," he cried impatiently. "You'll think I'm talking rot, but
this girl was the visualization of a character I had dreamed of and
groped after for years. That's all; but it's a whole lot, I can tell
you!"

"Of course, you established lines of communication and gave her a hint
that you meant to write a play for her?"

"Certainly not! That would have spoiled the whole thing. It was her art,
not the woman, that interested me. I didn't want to take the chance of
being disillusioned.