as he
expressed it to Frohman, he did not see any one who could play the part
of _Babbie_.

Now came one of those many unexpected moments that shape lives. On a
certain day Barrie dropped into the Empire Theater to see Frohman, who
was out.

"Why don't you stop in down-stairs and see 'Rosemary'?" said Frohman's
secretary.

"All right," said Barrie.

So he went down into the Empire and took a seat in the last row. An hour
afterward he came rushing back to Frohman's office, found his friend in,
and said to him, as excitedly as his Scotch nature would permit:

"Frohman, I have found the woman to play _Babbie_ in 'The Little
Minister'! I am going to try to dramatize it myself."

"Who is it?" asked Frohman, with a twinkle in his eye, for he knew
without asking.

"It is that little Miss Adams who plays _Dorothy_."

"Fine!" said Frohman. "I hope you will go ahead now and do the play."

The moment toward which Frohman had looked for years was now at hand. He
might have launched Miss Adams at any time during the preceding four or
five seasons. But he desired her to have a better equipment, and he
wanted the American theater-going public to know the woman in whose
talents he felt such an extraordinary confidence. He announced with a
suddenness that was startling, but which in reality conveyed no surprise
to the few people who had watched Miss Adams's career up to this time,
that he was going to launch her as star.

[Illustration: COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY CHARLES FROHMAN

_MAUDE ADAMS_]

Some of his friends, however, objected.

"Why split and separate a good acting combination?" was their comment,
meaning the combination of John Drew and Miss Adams. To this objection
Frohman made reply:

"I'll show you the wisdom of it. I'll put them both on Broadway at the
same time."

He therefore launched Miss Adams in "The Little Minister" at the Empire
and booked John Drew at Wallack's in "A Marriage of Convenience." His
decision was amply vindicated, for both scored successes.

* * *

Charles Frohman now proceeded to present Miss Adams with his usual
lavishness. First of all he surrounded her with a superb company. It was
headed by Robert Edeson, who played the title role, and included Guy
Standing, George Fawcett, William H. Thompson, R. Peyton Carter, and
Wilfred Buckland.

With "The Little Minister" Charles Frohman gave interesting evidence of
a masterful manipulation to make circumstances meet his own desires. He
re