The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-08-10

had lost his power to make the world
} laugh. The farce was in a minor key.
1t sang a dirge that only ceased when
thecurtain fell
Immediately after the play" said Mr..
Frank Mckee, Charley Hoyts partner
and closest friend, Il went to the tele-
graph office and cancelled all dates for
'the piece
Charley Hoyt's last attempt at play
writing was followed by a trip to Flori-
d., The entreaties of his friends forced
him away. They knew then that the
shadow on his heart had affected his
brain.
Once they tried to get him to go to
his old Charlestown home among the
granite powders of New Hampshire,
where the originals of the quaint people
in "A Midnight Bell' and "a Temper
ance Town" live.
Every man and child in the place knows
him
"Hellow, Charley" they used to cry
out informally as they saw him pass by.
There he brought his wife Caroline
Miskel, soon after his marriage. There
they planned together the comedy Of "a
Contented Woman. There, among
flowers and trees, Mr. Hoyt built a little
wooden structure that he once called his
den. In his writing room there the peo-
pie boast that ne wrote many fhis
! best known plays Many a stag supper
! he has given there, and many a jolly
evening he has supervised On the little
stage that he erected to try his farces.
| Charley Hoyt the funmaker endeared
l. an ~,
elected him to represent them in the Leg
islature, They always claim in thed d
islature They always claim him as theirs.
Since his wife's funeral they have not
seen him. When he was urged TO go
back there to the pretty little home
which has been his these many years he
answered.:
my sweet. beautiful wife and our pref
ty baby sleep in the village cemetery,
and our house is dark at night except
for the light of the caretaker. I hope the
time will come when 1 shall again feel
like going back to beautiful Charlestown.
But not now-not now
VIII that time ever come?
The curtain is down now. The lights
are out. Charley Hoyt, the man who
fun, has dismissed his last audience in
tears.
The following poem was composed by
Mr.. Hoyt TO poor, pretty Sadie McDan-
aid, who died on their Australian tour;
When the scene is lighted brightly, and
We watch the players nightly.
The peasant, the prince, and the page.
Lo, there comes an apparation, tbs lit
tie fair-haired vision
In the middle of the crowded stage.
And across the footnghts stealing, to the
listening heart appealing.
Floats the echo of the song that We
knew.
Il want you, ma honey, yes l want you,
want you. want you,
I want you. ma honey, yes do!''
Then she passes. Yonder. lonely. she kas
one true comrade only.
Who comes to her with whisperi1gs OF
hope.
faltering devotion.
It's the wind from her own Pacific
Slope
And II presses toward neE JLtoWt pTLnl-
ing footsteps on the biliow,
Lightly. ike one who comes . WOO,
And il murmurs low above her, with the
soft sigh Of a lover,
II want you. ma honey, yes DO"
All. the worktlrne and the playtne. All, |
the hot and garish daytimel
She rests undisturbed through Il sll;
While the sultry hours are creeping, in
her darkened room she's sleeping.
And she heeds not the lou5eSt call
But when the lights are light hing, and /
the silent stars are list'ning.
From their places IN the steadf2st hire, 4
II we come. our sad hearts bringing. Ne /.
may hear her softly singing.
Il want you, ma honey. yes DO"
And when the years have vanished. and I
more stately songs ara banishsd,
This ssnple strain that time cannot XII. I
VIII recall the figure slender, and the 4
accents Gear and tender.
And the tresses that are golden Still.
You VIII listen, Esue lady, and perhaps i
you'u hear IS. Sale,
S!rS1ng-acroxs ths yea-s-to yo1.
The song you taught 50 sw'es-ly. ere yc1
passed from - coz1lese,y
y