The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1912-03-13
WHEN HE CAME TO DIE.
Story of a Very Rich MAN
and the Angel.

DOy anu SlIl ICiuChiDClo dOO'o Iva
Adhem and what the angel did for
him. Well, here is another tale, dlt-
ferent from: that one, but an angel III
it:
A rich man lay in his bed SO i'll that
everyone thought he would surely die.
He was not really bad man; but he
had made many people suffer that he
might become rich. Consequently
very few who knew of his illness cared
whether he died or not.
One night, so he told afterwards, an
angel appeared to him and said:
"Are you ready to die?"
Being business man who never
minced words with any one, he re-
piled very shortly:
"Certainly not. I have much work
to do and I cannot afford to die just
now"
"Very WE'LL" said the angel, ''you
shall live on certain conditions.'
"Well," snapped the sick man,
"what are they?"
"First," answered the angel, 81
must remind you of some things you
have forgotten. The spirit in man is
eternal and in it's nature it is pure and
full of light. Your wife, who is the
only human being that loves you with
understanding, has such spirit. You
shall get we'll again Your ambitions
will incrsase. You7 heart will desire
many things and you shall have them
all. And one day you and your wife
shall die in the same moment"
The man trembled.
"Do not fear," said the angel, ''it
will be long time hence. But in the
meanwhile remember this:
"Wheneveryou are angry your neck
will swell and the veins will stand
out. Whenever you are afraid your
lips will curl up like the lips of a wolf.
Whenever you tell falsehood your
eyes will be clouded. And whenever
you cause any one to suffer the light
will leave y-our countenance."
While the angel spoke the sick man
had kept his eyes closed, but hen the
voice ceased he opened them continu-
ously. The angel was gone and the
man laughed aloud:
"Well," be exclaimed, "that angel
has no idea how modern business
methods train man to conceal his
emotions"
In few days the man Was better
and in few more he was at his busi-
ness again. He had many ambitions,
his heart was filed with desire and
everything he wanted he received, as
the angel had said.
Now in the course of his business
the man was often angry, but his neck
did not swell and the veins did not
stand out. He was often afraid when
he tried to get the better Of other men
but his lips did not curl up like the
lips of a wolf. He told many false
hoods, but when he did so he locked
the other man straight in the face and
his eyes we're not clouded. And with
all the money he made there came suf-
fering to others, but the light did not
leave his countenance.
AS the years went by and success
came, the man and his wife grew
apart. Neither acknowledged it, and
their friends did not notice it. But
they knew, the man and the woman
that their paths were not the same.
Then the day come.
Both we're killed in a railway acci
dent.
Now this is where my knowledge OF
this matter ends. But one day told
this story to a holy man, one who
reads all things as easily as you read
these words. And I said to him:
>''Let US suppose it was an angel who
spoke 70 the man, how comes it that
all The angel said was made untrue by
the trick man learns in business,
trick Of concealing his emotions?"
And the holy man said in reply:
1T is very simple. When the spirit
left the womau's body, it was pure
and full of light. as the angel said.
But when the spirit left the mans
body the neck was swollen and the
veins stood out. The lips were those
of a snarling wolf. The eyes we're