nt him to drop it." In order to insure the success
of the trick they stretched a string at the door so that Max would be
sure to fall. Then they ordered the melon, and Max appeared, bearing it
aloft. He fell, however, before he got to the string, and the joke was
saved.

All this jest and joke was part of the game of life as Frohman played
it. Whatever the cost, there is no doubt that the charming
white-and-green cottage up in the Westchester valley gave him hours of
relaxation and ease that were among the pleasantest of his life.

This house at White Plains was indirectly the means through which
Dillingham branched out as an independent manager. At this time he was
in Frohman's employ. One day he said to himself:

"This establishment is costing so much that I will have to send out some
companies of my own."

He thereupon got "The Red Mill," acquired Montgomery and Stone, and thus
began a new and brilliant managerial career. No one rejoiced over
Dillingham's success more than Frohman. When Dillingham opened his Globe
Theater in New York Frohman addressed a cable to "Charles Dillingham,
Globe Theater, U. S. A."

It is a curious fact about Charles Frohman that though he had millions
of dollars at stake, he was never a defendant in litigation. Yet through
him foreign authors were enabled to protect their plays from the
customary piracy by the memorization of parts. It used to be accepted
that if a man went to a play and memorized its speeches he could produce
it without paying royalty. N. S. Wood did this with a play called "The
World," that Frohman produced. He took the matter to court as a test
case and won.

* * *

Charles was not good at remembering people's names or their addresses.
This is why he was much dependent upon his stenographers. His secretary
in England, Miss Frances Slater, was so extraordinary in anticipating
his words that he always called her "The Wonder." He used to say:

"Miss Slater, I want to write to the man around the corner," which
turned out to be Arthur Bouclier, the manager of the Garrick Theater,
which was not really around the corner; but when the subject of the
letter came to be dictated, Miss Slater knew whom he meant. He would
never express any surprise on these occasions when the letter handed him
to sign contained the right name and address. He seemed to take it as a
matter of course.

* * *

One day Frohman entered his London office and said to Lestocq:

"You would never