"What Every Woman Knows" Miss Adams has a speech in
which she unconsciously defines the one peculiar and elusive gift which
gives her such rare distinction. In the play she is supposed to be the
girl "who has no charm." In reality she is all charm. But in discussing
this quality with her brothers she makes this statement:

_Charm is the bloom upon a woman. If you have it you don't have to
have anything else. If you haven't it, all else won't do you any
good._

"What Every Woman Knows" was an enormous success, in which Richard
Bennett, who played _John Shand_, shared honors with the star. Miss
Adams's achievement in this play emphasized the rare affinity between
her and Barrie's delightful art. They formed a unique and lovable
combination, irresistible in its appeal to the public. Commenting on
this, Barrie himself has said:

_Miss Adams knows my characters and understands them. She really
needs no directions. I love to write for her and see her in my
work._

Nor could there be any more delightful comment on Miss Adams's
appreciation of all that Barrie has meant to her than to quote a remark
she made not so very long ago when she said:

_Wherever I act, I always feel that there is one unseen spectator,
James M. Barrie._

Maude Adams was now in what most people, both in and out of the
theatrical profession, would think the very zenith of her career. She
was the best beloved of American actresses, the idol of the American
child. She was without doubt the best box-office attraction in the
country. Yet she had made her way to this eminence by an industry and a
concentration that were well-nigh incredible.

People began to say, "What marvelous things Charles Frohman has done for
Miss Adams."

As a matter of fact, the career of Miss Adams emphasizes what a very
great author once said, which, summed up, was that neither nature nor
man did anything for any human being that he could not do for himself.

Miss Adams paid the penalty of her enormous success by an almost
complete isolation. She concentrated on her work--all else was
subsidiary.

Charles Frohman had an enormous ambition for Miss Adams, and that
ambition now took form in what was perhaps his most remarkable effort in
connection with her. It was the production of "Joan of Arc" at the
Harvard Stadium. It started in this way:

John D. Williams, for many years business manager for Charles Frohman,
is a Harvard alumnus.