dmond Rostand's "L'Aiglon,"
adapted in English by Louis N. Parker. As the young Eaglet, son of the
great Napoleon, she had fresh opportunity to display her versatility. It
was a character in which romance, pathos, and tragedy were curiously
entwined. Bernhardt had done it successfully in Paris, but Miss Adams
brought to it the fidelity and brilliancy of youth. In "L'Aiglon" she
was supported by Edwin Arden, Oswald Yorke, Eugene Jepson, J. H.
Gilmour, and R. Peyton Carter.

* * *

When Charles Frohman put Miss Adams into "Romeo and Juliet" she received
a whimsical letter from J. M. Barrie, saying, among other things:

_Are you going to take Willie Shakespeare by the arm and l'ave me?_

The time was now at hand when she once more took the fascinating Scot by
the arm. She now appeared in his "Quality Street," a new play with the
real Barrie charm, in which she took the part of an exquisite English
girl whose betrothed goes to the Napoleonic wars. She thinks he has
forgotten her, and allows herself to externally fade into spinsterhood.
When he comes back he does not recognize her. Then she suddenly blooms
into exquisite youth--radiant and beguiling--and he discovers that it is
his old love.

"Quality Street" was tried out in Toledo, Ohio, early in the season of
1901. On the opening night an incident occurred which showed Frohman's
attitude toward new plays. The third act dragged somewhat toward the
end, evidently on account of an anti-climax. On the following day
Frohman asked his business manager to sit with him during the third act,
saying:

"Last night Miss Adams played this act as Barrie wrote it. This
afternoon she will play it as I want it."

The act went much more effectively, and it was never changed after that
matinee performance.

"Quality Street" was another of what came to be known as a typical
"Adams success."

For her next starring vehicle, Charles presented Maude Adams in "The
Pretty Sister of Jose," a play which Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett made
of her well-known story. She was supported by Harry Ainley, at that time
England's great matinee idol. Here Miss Adams encountered for the first
time something that resembled failure, because she was not adapted to
the fiery, passionate character of the impetuous Spanish girl. The play,
however, made its usual tour after the local season, and with much
financial success.

The tour ended, Miss Adams suddenly disappeared from sight. There were
even r