Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-27
WHEN HE CAME TO DIE.


WHEN HE CAME TO DIE.
Story Of q Worry Rich Man and the
Angel.
/ We used to read stories In which
angels talked with men. Every school
boz and girl remembers about Ber
Adhem. and what the angel did fol
him. Well, here Is another tale. diff
ferent from that one, but an angel ir
It:
A rich man lay in his bed so III
that everyone thought he would sure
" die. He was not really a bad man;
but he had made many people suffer
that he might become rich. Conse-
quently very few who knew Of his i'll
ness 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 q 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 jus,
now"
"Very WELL" said the angel, "you
shall live on certain conditions"
"well," snapped the sick man, what
are they?"
"First," answered the angel, II must
remind you Of some things you have
forgotten. The spirit in man is eter-
nal and in its nature 1t is pure and
full Of light. Your wife, who Is the
only human being that loves you with
understanding, has such a spirit. You
shall get we'll again. Your ambitions
viii increase. Your heart will de-
sire many things and you shall have
them all. And one day you and your
VIE shall die in the same moment"
The man trembled.
aDo not fear" said the angel, u,
yIlsbe a long time hence. But in the
meanwhile remember this:
Whenever you 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 a falsehood your
eyes will be clouded. And whenever
you cause any one to suffer the light
will leave your countenance."
While the angel spoke the sick man
had kept his eyes closed, but when the
voice ceased he opened them cautious
ly. The angel Wei gone and the man
laughed aloud:
"Well," he exclaimed, that angel
has no idea how modern business
methods train a man to conceal his
emotion"
In a few days the man was better
and in a few more he was at his bus
mess again. He had many ambitions
his heart was filled with desire and
everything he wanted he received, as
the angel had said.
Now in the couse Of his business
the man was often angry, but his neck
did not swell and the veins did moi
stand out. He was often afraid when
he tried to get the better Of other
men, but his lips did not curl up ike
the lips of a wolf. He told many false
hoods, but when he did so he looked
the other man straight in the face
and his eyes were not clouded. And
with all the money he made there
came suffering to others, but the light
did not leave his countenance.
AS the years went by and success
came, the man and his wife gre"
apart. Neither acknowledged 1t. and
their friends did not notice 1t. But
they knew, the man and the woman
that their paths were not the same.
Then the day come.
Both were killed in railway acci-
dent.
Now this Is where my knowledge OF
this matter ends. But one day / told
this story to holy man, one who
reads all things as easily as you read
these words. And I said to him:
LET US suppose 1t was an angeI
who spoke to the man. how comes II
that all the angel said was made un'
true by the trick a man learns In bus
mess, trick Of concealing his emo
tions?"
And the holy man said in reply:
1T is very simple. When the spirit
left the woman's body, 1t was pure
and full of light, as the angel said
But when the spirit left the mans
body the neck was swollen and he
veins stood out. The lips were those
of a snarling wolf. The eyes were
dim, and the countenance instead OF
being full of light, was the color OF
ashes"
"And is such a spirit as that eter'
nal?" 1 asked him.
And the holy man said:
AT do ,nt Unon ''-ThOmaS TaDDer