Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1937-06-24
He Gave Death a
Holiday
BY RICHARD HILL WILKINSON
@Associated Newspapers.
WNU Service.

! ahead rather than behind. HecENes
IN the future. rather than the past
| Though occasionally he does Ipan-
/ inisce, and at sucufr times hec often
has story to, tell that is woatfH
repeating;
.sWe'n cafP this chap Pm going.
to tell you about Asa Darwin" he,
began. ''Jusk for conveniencesS
sake, understand. Well, Asa, he
never married Romances, yes. But
nary a wife. Never felt the neeR
Of one.
Living aita1e,, he gruwed intn
middle age and then into old age.
and pretty soon he come to real
ze the folly of not taking hisseH u
wife. lonesome. he was At sixty
ne got to be- a. quernol1s old coot,-
, rheumatic and suffering from all
Kinds of PAINS and aches inside Of
! him. He didn't figure he had muchG
longer to live. and the doctor agreedJ
that this was so.
''Kind of pitfful in way. Near
est of kin was first cousin living.
down in Ridgefeld, 80 miles away
Cousins name was Rufe Barclay.
and he wass three years younger'rH
Asa. WE'LL. when Rufe heard about.
Asa's conditions he come UP to visit
him one day. quizzed the doc and1
then suggested that Asa come down
to Ridgefeld and Live with him and
his wife.
well, strangely enough, Asa he
thought the. idea good one. Hel
was sick. and lonesome, but finan-
cially independent, and he didn't
have much longer to live. Sells
his farm, he does, packs up his
PERSONAL belongings and hikes OF
down To Rufe'ss Now Rufe, and
his wife was mighty nice folks.
They had two, children to come and
visit them occasionally, and was
DANCED happy. They didn't. have
heap of money laid by, but: they
was satisfied. and when Asa, come
to- live with 'em they treated HIM
fine
Then suddenly he took sick and
was ordered to bed by the, doc. He,
lay hoverin' between life and death
for month, feeling miserable, and
wishing he. could die. But.lhe didn't,
He just lay there and become a, bur-
den on Rufe's wife. She waited on.
him hand and foot. Asa, got, to-
thinking what dangedi useless, life,
he'd led. never having, any children.
and beng so ill-tempered, and, he.
begun wondering why he, was, ever
born anyhow.
''The fact is, he. fell to, brood6ng.
He figured if he could only die he'd
be mighty happy, It would. be
thoaght, give him a deal Of pleasure,
to know that the money be left
could be used right we'll by Rufe
and his wife. It made him unhap-
ny because he couldn't die.
Another month passed and Asa
got no worse or no better, but he
felt terrible because it occurred to
him he might hang on for ten years
and be nothing but D burden, and
what if he had to have an operation
and all his money vanished and Rufe
had to support himf The outlook
was pretty awful.
ssOne day when he was feeling his
. worst Asa called the doc in and
esked how long he thought he'd live.
The doc looked serious and finally
says, Asa. I'm gonna tell you the
truth. II you're here year from
now, I'll be surprised
well, say, that was such a relief
tn Asa he actually began to feel
happy. Only a yearl' he thinks.
We'll, by dang, I might as well
make the best of it. And from that
day on he begun to get better. With
in q week he was sitting up and
three days later dressed and walk
ing around. By dang, you never
saw q teller recover so quick.
Amazing. Only q year!' he'd say.
Well, by jinks, that's fine, because
want to die and the money I
leave win help out you folks
IA year passed and Asa forgot all
about dying. He'd bought hisself a
plot of land nearby and was cult
waiting it and had become acquaint-
ed around, and really enjoying his
self. Another year come around
and one day Rufe, Asa's cousin,
caught hisseH cold. It settled in
to pneumonia, and, by dang, Rufe
up and died. Well, that left things
in q pretty mess. Here was Rose,
Rufe's wife, left alone with Asa and
no means Of supporting herself.
well, Asa he got to thinking II
over and after q month or so he
asks Rose to marry him, just for
convenience's sake. Well, Rose she
thought it over, and said yes, she
would, figuring, of course, that Asa
didn't have much longer to live any
how.
well, by dang, they was mar
ried and went on living as before
and were mighty happy together.
Asa, he begun to realize what he'd
missed all his life, which thus in
creased the spirit to live in him,
about a hundred per cent. The chill