Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-01-10
He Was Born with a Chill.

Down in q certain section of the Miss
iseippi river bottoms there is such an air
of unconcern that the first thougt of
4raveler is: "These people are too lazy
to entertain hope." 1t is, however, not
wholly a condition OF laziness that pro-
duces such an appearance of Incidence.
Lazinesi may play its part, and moreover
may play it we'll. but it cannot assume
to play the leading role. What, then, is
the leading actor? Chills. There are
men in those bottoms who were born
with chill, and who have never shaken
it off.
Some time ago, while riding through
the Muscadine neighborhood, 1 came
upon man sitting on log near the
roadside. He was sallow and lean, with
sharp knob cheek bones, and with hair
like soiled cotton. The day was in
tensely hot, but he sat in the sun, al
though near him tangled grapevine
cast most inviting shade.
GOOD morning." said /, refining up.
"Hi."
"You live here, suppose
"Jest about"
"Why don't you sit over there in the
shade ?"
"Will when the time comes"
"What do you mean by when the time
| comes?"
when the fever comes on"
"Having chills, are you?"
"Sorter."
"How long have you had them?"
"Forty-odd year."
"How old are your"
"Forty. odd year"
tfPoov, 81, q Ri no x-orr~ 1;f0 oh
"Only half my life; fever on the other
half"
"Why don't you move away from
here?"
"Becase I've lived here SO long that
Pm afeerd l might not have good health
nowhar else."
Gracious alive, do you mean to say
that having chills all the time is good
health ?"
"Wall, health mout be wuss. Old
Nat Sarver moved up to the hills some
time ago, was tuck down putty soon with
some new sort of disease and didn't live
more'n week. Don't believe in swap
pin off suthin' that I'm used to for
euthin' don't know nothin' about. Old
fashioned. everyday chills air good
enough for me. Some folks, when they
git little up in the world, mout want to
put on airs with dyspepsia and bronki-
chus, and glanders and catarrh, but, as
l lowed to my wife, old chills and fever
war high enough for US yit awhile. A
chill may have drawbacks, but it has its
enjoymepts, too."
81 don't see how a chill can be enjoy
able"
''Jest owin' to how you air raised.
When have chill it does me power
of good to stretch, and tell you that
fust rate stretch when feller is in the
humor amt to be sneezed at. High-o.
hoop He gasped, threw out his legs,
threw back his arms and stretched him
self across the log. "It's sorter like the
itch,", he went on. "The itch has its
drawbacks, but what a power of good it
does man to scratch. Wall, my fever
is coming on now and reckon I'll hurry
and git up thar under the shade"
He moved into the shade and stretched
himself again.
How long will your fever last?" 1
asked.
"Wall, 1 don't know exactly; three
hours, mebby."
"Then what? ?"
"Wall, I'll funter around awhile, chop
up little wood to get bite to eat with,
swap hoss with some feller, mebby,
and then fix myself for another chill"
"Have you much of family ?"
"Wife and grown son. He's about the
ablest chiller in the country; WY, when
he's got rale good chill on he can take
hold of tree and shake off green per-
simmons. Wall, have you got to go?"
Eyes"
"Good-by, then. When you git tired
livin' up thar among them newfangled
diseases, come down here whar every
thing is old-fashioned, comfortable and
onest."-[Opie P. Read in Arkansaw
Traveller.