me; their joint productions had been features of the
New York stage. Yet for twelve years they had not spoken.

Frohman became ill, and lay stricken at the Knickerbocker Hotel. That he
had thought much of his old comrade, so long estranged, was evident. A
remarkable coincidence resulted. It was like an act in any one of the
many plays they had produced.

One afternoon Belasco, who had heard of the serious plight of Frohman,
sat in his studio on the top floor of the Belasco Theater. There, amid
his Old World curios, he pondered over the past.

"'C. F.' is lying ill at the Knickerbocker," he said to himself. "He may
die. I must see him. This quarrel of ours is a great mistake."

He started to write a note to his old friend, when the telephone-bell
rang. It was his business manager, Benjamin Roeder, who said:

"I have just had a telephone message from Charles Frohman. He wants to
see you."

When Belasco told Roeder that he was just in the act of writing to
Frohman to tell him that he wanted to see him, both men were amazed at
the coincidence.

That night, when the few friends who gathered each evening at Frohman's
bedside had gone, Belasco entered the sick-room at the Knickerbocker.
Frohman was so weak that he could hardly raise his hand. Belasco went to
him, took his right hand in both of his, and the old comrades put
together again the thread of their friendship just where it had been
broken twelve years before.

They talked over the old days. Frohman, whose mind was always on the
theater, suddenly said:

"Let's do a play together, David."

"All right," said Belasco.

"You name the play. I will get the cast, and we will rehearse it
together," added Frohman.

Out of this reconciliation came the magnificent revival of "A Celebrated
Case," by D'Ennery and Cormon. The cast included Nat Goodwin, Otis
Skinner, Ann Murdock, Helen Ware, Florence Reed, and Robert Warwick. On
Frohman's recovery he undertook the rehearsals. Belasco came in at the
end, but he had little to do.

[Illustration: COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD

_CHARLES FROHMAN and DAVID BELASCO_

_A photograph taken in Boston April 3, 1915, just after the two had
renewed their partnership, ending a separation of twenty years._]

Frohman and Belasco not only resumed their joint production of plays,
but they resumed part of their old life together. Now began again their
favorite diet of pumpkin and meringue pie and tea after the day's work
was do