“I am glad you are pleased with my story.  Did you know that it was my first one?  Your comment on the character of the musician interested me, as it is a close portrait of a friend.

“Trusting that we may work together to a successful end, I am

“Sincerely,

“THE AUTHOR.

“P.S.  For private reasons I prefer to remain unknown to you.  You can always reach me through Mr. Frohman’s office.  You must forgive typed letters.”

This she sent to the Frohman office, with a request that it be forwarded.  The next day brought Jarvis’s news: 

“DEAR BAMBI:  For three days I have resisted the constant temptation to send you word of what seemed to be extraordinarily good news, but many disappointments have made me a doubting Thomas, so I held off until I was really sure.  To begin at the beginning, I was at the lowest ebb of disgust with myself last week for my inability to get in step with the grand march.  Only a fool can be excused for failure, and I am not that.  So a summons from the Frohman office somewhat restored my self-respect.  It seems that Mr. Frohman has never forgotten my previous interview, so when he decided to make a play of a popular novel entitled ‘Francesca,’ he immediately thought of me.

“Of course this is not the kind of play I want to do, so I said I would look over the book and if I liked it I would have a try at it.  The long and the short of it is I have accepted.  The woman who wrote the thing has promised to keep out of it.  She seems to be a nice kind of person, but for some reason wants to make a mystery of herself.  Frohman hints at a domestic tragedy as her reason.  I’m sure I do not care about her private affairs.

“She has written a clever and delightful book.  The heroine, oddly enough called Francesca, suggests you in places, except that she is a more practical sort than you are.  The hero, a musician, is a sort of sublimated madman.  The best character of all is an old fiddler.  There is a play in it.  The more I think about it, the more I am convinced of that.

“Would you care to help me on it?  Both of our names could go on the bill.  I have come to know, these last months, since I have been working at things here alone, how much the growth in my work is due to you.  The human touch you have given my characters, or helped me to give them, is the essential element in my improvement.  You started a good many wires to jangling that spring day when you indulged your mad impulse to marry an impossibility!

“Regards to the Professor.

“Yours,

“JARVIS.”

Bambi went to the telegraph office and wired him: 

“Congratulations.  Of course I’ll help!  Come home.

“BAMBI.”

He answered, by letter, that he thought it best to stay on until Mr. Frohman and the author were both satisfied with the framework of the play.  Then he would come, most gladly, to work in the old study.  He would submit his ideas for a scenario the next day or so.