ne. Night after night they met after the theater, just as they had
done in the old Madison Square days when they went to O'Neil's, on Sixth
Avenue, for their frugal repast, dreaming and planning their futures.
Now each man had become a great personage. Frohman was the amusement
dictator of two worlds; Belasco, the acknowledged stage wizard of his
time.

After a week in Boston the all-star cast in "A Celebrated Case" opened
at the Empire Theater in New York. History repeated itself. Frohman and
Belasco sat in the same place in the wings where they sat twenty-two
years before at the launching of "The Girl I Left Behind Me," which
dedicated the Empire. Now, as then, there were tumultuous calls for the
producers. Again David tried to induce Charles to go out, but he said:

"No, you go, David, and speak for me. Stand where you did twenty-two
years ago."

In 1915, as in 1893, Belasco went out and spoke Frohman's thanks and his
own.

The revival of "A Celebrated Case" not only brought Frohman and Belasco
together, but led to an agreement between them to do a production
together every year.

* * *

There was a tragic hint of the fate which was shaping Charles Frohman's
end in his last production on any stage. It was a war play called "The
Hyphen," by Justus Miles Forman, the novelist. The scenes were laid in
Pennsylvania, and the story dealt with the various attempts to unsettle
the loyalty of German-Americans through secret agencies. The whole
problem of the hyphenated citizen, which had complicated the American
position in the great war, was set forth.

Even in his unconscious stage farewell, Charles was the pioneer, because
the acceptance of "The Hyphen" and the prompt organization of the
company established a new record in play-producing. Up to a certain
Saturday morning Charles Frohman had never heard of the play. That
afternoon the manuscript was put into his hands and he read it. A
messenger was sent off post-haste to find the author. In the mean time,
Frohman engaged W. H. Thompson, Gail Kane, and a notable group of
players for the cast, and gave orders for the construction of the
scenery. Late that afternoon Mr. Forman called on Charles, whom he had
never met. Without any further ado the manager said to the
playwright-author:

"I am going to produce your play. We have nothing to discuss. A manager
often discusses at great length the play that he does not intend to
produce. Therefore all that I have to tell y