The times., 1898-07-17
STAGE ST0.lIES.
What HYDE Did.

It was ccld-very cold-bitter cold. Out
side the snow fell in great fleecy particles,
threatening to cover the little Colorado
town with a heavy blanket of white.
Only on the interior of the little frame
structure known as "Hogan's Rest" it
was very warm and comfortable. The
Hyde. who had not yet ceased to be
Jekyll. sat close TO the great stove with
its fat. red belly, and smiled. 1t must
have been the genial influence around him
that caused this. for the ordinary mortal
would have seen in his condition very lit
tie TO smile over.
To be stranded in a border town with a
whole company at ones heels, to realize
that ones hopes for the present and fu-
ture lay in the single $ bill reposing in
inner pocket. to see at a glance ones
dreams for what is to come and ones
remedy for what has come vanish-sure-
ly this is not the acme of humor.
And yet he smiled. He was a good na-
tured sort of fellow always and the few
glasses Of liquor in his system had been
enough 10 open his flood gates wide with
out closing them again. Il would not be
ed out for time. and he knew it. The
members of his company-the members
10 whom he was generally so kiud-had
learned that under their stars smiling
good will lay a brute nature, intensified
by years of worry over defeated hopes
that would come into view when HYDE
was under the influence of drink. This
never happened excepting, and never fail
ed To happen, when he was troubled and
nm he
Of deviltTy would result. He had been
in Jail in Denver two months for kick
ing a child that lay in his path as he
staggered along. And the company. al
ways a triie superstiuous. noted the
change that came over his ordinarily
kindly self and laid il to the part he had
played 50 long. when he is sober he is
is drunk ne becomes Hyde" JekyH never
had done an unkind deed-Hyde had never
been guilty Of a pleasant one
And so in ''Hogan's Rest the actor
who was soon 10 grow into his part, wait
ed and drank II came easy after the bill
was broken and the first qualms OF thrift
had been overcome by a desire 10 forget.
and the innate Bohemianism of a player.
When. al half past four. a member OF the
stranded troupe walked in. not beca use
he wanted TO whet his thirst. but because
it was cold and miserable outside the
man had already changed little and
Hyde was beginning to show. Take
drink" he bawled across the room 10 his
friend in a way that meant command
more than anything else. but the new
conner did not notice the tone and thank
ed his erstwhile employer without accept
ing
What's up with you, this worthy call
ed angrily. Am l TOO good for you or
you for me-" And then as the actor
looked around with the broken spirit of
a moneyless man without friends or hope,
Hyde called the last Of his sentence with
an oath: "Drink-dam you-drink." The
nan walked slowly away from the bar
and 10 the stove, where he could speak
without being heard and laughed at IA
rather not he said humbly. That is
if you don't mind. You see I've got folks
at home and they never did like IL. I've
always half made even with presents and
reminders. But now it's Christmas and
the only thing / can directly do for them
is to stop. / guess it's foolishnesS but il
kind Of helps and-and-and it's Christ
mas"
There was an appeal in the voice and
a broken stop at the word Christmas.
Jekyll You'd have noticed them-Hyde
did not. And so after a little time the
man was prevailed upon TO drink up the
last dime of the first dollar and left as
quietly as he could. But when he had
reached the rest of the company at the
barn-like structure that passed for the
town opera house he told them what had
happened. The worry seems TO have
kind o. crazed him. he remarked. 81
never saw him worse" And they talked
it over in their clanish way, and at last
decided that they had better take care
of their star. He kicked that little boy
in Denver" a woman with her child
wrapped in her shawl, said, in the way Of
an apology at taking extreme measures.
So one and all they set out. partly be-
cause they really wanted 10 keep Hyde
from doing any harm, and partly because
it was warmer walking than on the cold
floor of the opera house" Only the
woman with the baby did not go because
her four-year-oId was too tired and weak
TO walk but still too heavy 10 carry.
And yet. as often happens, it was she
who saw Hyde first.
For. after having spent two of the last
five dollars he had in the world, Hyde
staggered out of "Hogan's Rest and
down the street toward the theater. On
the way he passed house after house. and
from all Of them came childish laughter
and sounds of merry making. The actor
had told the truth-it was Chistmas- And
still IL showed, and the holly the men Of
fered Hyde al every street corner seemed
red as blood and green as life in contrast
Little drifts We're forming in. the streets,
and corner store had a large evergreen
tree in the window Hyde cursed saw
agely and stumbled on. The wreck of his
life was before him and the wreck of his
hopes behind, and neither was a pleasant
sight. Forty - pennileSs - nobody-way
out here-stranded. ne said once. and
then he swore again, bur the oath sound
ed like a sob. Sometimes Hyde has some
Of JelSyll lurking behind the devil in his
face.
At the opera house he paused The
back entrance. over which some master
hand had painted in sprawIing letters
formed with lamp black the words stage
door," glared out through the gathering
dusk. and, seek as he might for another
solution, they would connect themselves
with his failure. He was tempted to go
back, and then he determined to wait
while anyway. He turned the knob and
trOd savagely through. In one corner the
woman with the child sat singing a low.
sweet song. but she stopped when he came
in. The little one ran to him. He had
given her presents before and had told
her stories-stories of home and of Christ
mas Now he felt a strange repulsion for
her and for the mother who held out her
hand to stop the baby. She was his sweet
heart in the play of "Jekyll and Hyde"
Dut lnAl ulu not matter. he raised his
hand TO strike and then waited. rs it
Tismas?" hsped the yeungster.
Hyde lowered the hand. 1t was a
strange thing-almost like a return TO
the bonds of Jekyll-but he could not
even motion her back. Far away IN a
little town, strangely like this in spite
of the fact that ii was three thousand
miles distant. Hyde had a little daugh-
ter himself and that daughter had a
mother. He had left them for a fabu-