Chapter II: Act III: Pathos

Everything seems to go wrong;
Actors’ shoes are almost gone.
Trudging down the track alone,
A thousand miles away from home;
Counting ties the last we saw
Of the company called, “Escaped from the Law.”

(Curtain)

The Wild and Woolly West

You call us wild--just tell me why;
’Cause we look sort of rough?
You’ll find the boys in this here camp
A good long ways from tough.
We got no use for lawyers;
Judge Lynch we all respect,
But no one needs to fear the Judge
If he carries hisself correct.

There was that man Tim Haskins--
Tim you know’s a scamp--
Well, he took us for tenderfoots
And tried to run the camp.
Joe Grant took objections, then
’Fore anyone could tell,
Haskins knifed him through the heart
And struck him again as he fell.

That set our blood to biling;
We were sore as we could be.
We dragged Tim to yon canon
And strung him to a tree.
You’ll see him as you’re passing;
He’s near the road down there--
Unless he’s served as dinner
For wolves or grizzly bear.

Now, back East this ain’t justice,
But as like as like can be,
If Tim had got a court trial
The jury would have set him free.
We don’t want no law like that,
So when a man’s a pest
We hook him to the nearest tree,
In the wild and woolly West.

Our Last Goodnight

“Goodnight! goodnight!” Our last “goodnight!”
To some these words seem sad,
But in this case they’re quite the reverse;
They seem to make us glad.
Our hearts they are not heavy,
No tears to dim our sight.
’Tis with a kiss and loving smile
We breathe our last “goodnight.”

We speak again, our last “goodnight,”
And seal it with a kiss.
We’ve parted--yes, we’ve parted,
Yet both are filled with bliss.
Our last “goodnight” we’ve whispered,
And yet our hearts are light.
A fond embrace, a loving kiss
And then we said “goodnight.”

You think it strange we’re happy,
Yet the world ne’er seemed so bright,
And though she’s all the world to me,
We said our last “goodnight.”
These sad words I have whispered
To the one that I adore,
But tomorrow is our wedding day;
We’ll say “goodnight” no more.

Her Gentleman Friend

He’s tall, handsome; eyes of blue;
Her gentleman friend.
A careless swing, but his heart is true,
Her gentleman friend.
Every night at the hour of eight
She’ll lightly trip to the garden gate,
And there with throbbing heart await
Her gentleman friend.

She’ll calmly gaze through the dewy night
For her gentleman friend.
Then down the lane who dawns in sight?
Her gentleman friend.
As he comes near her eyes they glow;
Their hearts with love now overflow.
Who says he loves this little girl so?
Her gentleman friend.

Whose mellow voice has a silvery tone?
Her gentleman friend.
Who tells her he loves her alone?
Her gentleman friend.
Who, with a kiss and a fond caress,
Asks her his future life to bless?
To whom does she softly answer “yes”?
Her gentleman friend.

“I’s Oo Boy”

I hug him closely to my breast,
I smooth his golden curls.
I’m happy when I’m with him,
And proud as any earl.
When I ask, “Whose boy are you?”
He’ll drop his little toy,
And running to my arms will cry,
“I’s oo boy.”

See his eyes jump with delight
When he is on my knee;
The world is full of sunshine
Since he has come to me.
My happiness is quite complete,
My peace none could destroy,
When I hear his sweet lips murmur,
“I’s oo boy.”

He is just sixteen months old;
He can say “Mama;”
Rub his eyes when sleepy
And just lisp, “Papa.”
As he bears us these little words
It fills our hearts with joy.
This is all he knows, except,
“I’s oo boy.”

’Twas Not To Be

I’ve been thinking of the many things
That’s happened since we met;
Of the many, many happy days
That I will not forget.
With my sweetheart in the mountains
And out upon the plain,
In the country and the city,
In the sunshine and the rain.
Thinking of the kisses stolen
And the kisses you returned,
The latter, dear, upon my lips,
Indelibly are burned.
Thinking, dear, of love’s sweet nothings
We’d to each other say,
And how we’d sit in silence,
Holding hands ’most every day,
Thinking of the happiness we’ve had
’Till now I can not see
Another girl in all the world
That looks so good to me,
As my sweetheart in the country,
Who stole from me my heart.
And then the cruel hour arrived--
The time we had to part.

But what’s the use of talking,
I know those days have past.
They say that there is happiness
That is too good to last.
We all must have our troubles;
Each must have their share,
And each in turn believes their own
The hardest ones to bear.
So, thinking of the past, tonight,
And of the present too,
With all my love I fear that I
Was never meant for you.

Truth

If in life you would succeed,
Start in early youth;
To this warning now pay heed
Always speak the truth.
Let others do what e’er they may;
In your dealings it will pay
To have your neighbors gladly say,
You always speak the truth.

It’s your one great asset, boy,
Do not be deterred
By temptation to deny a truth
You’ve said or heard.
So be sure, keep this in view;
Always be exact and true,
And no matter what you do,
Never break your word.

Parting

Tonight we part forever, though it fills my heart with pain;
Love’s ties tonight you sever, my cup of joy you drain.
Pondering o’er the past I weep--no smiles for me you’ve shown;
Where roses grew now dark weeds creep, and I am sad and lone.

Though tonight we part, I shed no tears, so strange to you
’twill seem,
That I think of departed years and all that might have been;
Of happy days and faded flowers, of a heart that once was true;
Of joyful and dreary hours as I bid you, my love, adieu.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.