n rose on the
evening of November 10, 1883, he was the same smiling, eager, but
imperturbable boy who years before had uttered the wish that some day he
would put on a play himself in the great city. He now saw that dream
come true. He was just twenty-three.

"The Stranglers of Paris" made quite a sensation. The scenic effects
were highly praised, and especially the ship scene, which showed
convicts in their cages, their revolt, the sinking of the vessel,
Jagon's struggle in the water, his escape from death, and his dramatic
appeal to Heaven. Lee scored a great success and dated his popularity
from this appearance.

Many of the lines in the piece were widely quoted, one of them in
particular. It was in substance, "Money has power to open prison gates,
and no questions asked."

It was the time of sensational graft revelations, and theater-goers
thought that it fitted the New York situation.

[Illustration: _VIOLA ALLEN_]

"The Stranglers of Paris" ran at the New Park Theater until December 9,
when it was taken on the road. It continued on tour for a considerable
period, playing most of the principal cities of the East, but the
production was so expensive that it made no money. In fact, Charles lost
on the enterprise, but it did not in the least dash his spirits. He
was supremely content because at last he had produced a play.

* * *

"The Stranglers of Paris" filled the budding manager with a renewed zeal
to be a producer. He was still enthusiastic about the melodrama, so he
secured a vivid piece by R. G. Morris, a New York newspaper man, called
"The Pulse of New York," which he produced at the Star Theater,
Thirteenth Street and Broadway, which had been originally Wallack's
Theater.

In the cast was a handsome, painstaking young woman named Viola Allen,
whom Charles had singled out because of her admirable work in a play
that he had seen, and who was headed for a big place in the annals of
the American theater. The youthful manager encouraged her and did much
to aid her progress.

Others in the cast were Caroline Hill, A. S. Lipman, Edward S. Coleman,
L. F. Massen, Frank Lane, Henry Tarbon, W. L. Denison, George Clarke, H.
D. Clifton, Ada Deaves, Max Freeman, Edward Pancoast, Frank Green,
Gerald Eyre, Nick Long, Frederick Barry, Oscar Todd, John March, Charles
Frew, Richard Fox, James Maxwell, J. C. Arnold, Stanley Macy, Lida Lacy,
George Mathews, and William Rose.

"The Pulse of New York" was produced May