After the Battle of Lodi, General Napoleon is sitting in an inn and eating his dinner when a Lieutenant arrives to tell him that some of his dispatches have been stolen. Napoleon determines that a strange lady also staying in the inn has them in her possession, and thus begins a battle of wits for the papers—and over Napoleon’s philosophy.

The Man of Destiny was written and first performed in 1897, and has been adapted for radio and television. It was first published in the collection Plays Pleasant .