ter her brilliant performance as _Zuzanne Blondet_ in
"The Masked Ball," she appeared in "The Butterflies," by Henry Guy
Carleton. She had a much better part in "The Bauble Shop," which
followed the next year.

John Drew's vehicle in 1895 was "That Imprudent Young Couple," by Henry
Guy Carleton. This play not only advanced Miss Adams materially, but
first served to bring forward John Drew's niece, Ethel Barrymore, a
graceful slip of a girl, who developed a great friendship with Miss
Adams. Following her appearance in the Carleton play came "Christopher
Jr.," written by Madeline Lucette Ryley, in which Miss Adams scored the
biggest hit of her career up to this time.

It remained for Louis N. Parker's charming play, "Rosemary," which was
produced at the Empire Theater in 1896, to put Miss Adams into the path
of the man who, after Charles Frohman, did more than any other person in
the world to give her the prominence that she occupies to-day.

"Rosemary" was an exquisite comedy, and packed with sentiment. Maude
Adams played the part of _Dorothy Cruikshank_, a character of quaint and
appealing sweetness. It touched the hidden springs of whimsical humor
and thrilling tenderness, qualities which soon proved to be among her
chief assets.

Just about that time a little Scot, James M. Barrie by name, already a
distinguished literary figure who had blossomed forth as a playwright
with "Walker London" and "The Professor's Love Story," came to America
for the first time. For three people destined from this time on to be
inseparably entwined in career and fortune, it was a memorable trip. For
Barrie it meant the meeting with Charles Frohman, who was to be his
greatest American friend and producer; for Miss Adams it was to open the
way to her real career, and for Frohman himself it was to witness the
beginning of an intimacy that was perhaps the closest of his life.

Barrie's book, "The Little Minister," had been a tremendous success,
and, not having acquired the formality of a copyright in America, the
play pirates were busy with it. Frohman, after having seen the
performance of "The Professor's Love Story," had cabled Barrie, asking
him to make a play out of the charming Scotch romance. Barrie at first
declined. Frohman, as usual, was insistent. Then followed the
Scotchman's trip to America.

Under Frohman's influence he had begun to consider a dramatization of
"The Little Minister," but the real stimulus was lacking because,