Life Begins at Forty

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- Hey, Chris.

- Hmm? Huh?

- Hear anything?

- No, sir. I didn't hear nothin', Mr. Clark.

Don't hear nothin'?

You're deaf then.

Nothin's come around here

while I'm on the job.

You're lettin' him

sneak up on us here.

Interferin' with the freedom of the press.

- Give me that gun.

- I wasn't sleepin'.

I was just sort of playin' possum.

Gettin' so a man can't

get out his editorials around here...

without him stickin' his bill in.

Don't see him anywhere, do ya?

Huh?

- There he is!

- Is that him?

I'm gonna miss him so close this time,

I'll bet ya he don't come back anymore.

There he goes. He's sure hightailin' it

away now. He won't be back.

Kenesaw Clark, you leave that jaybird alone!

Oh, uh-Well, hello!

Hello, Miss Ida. How are you?

You stop that shootin'

and scarin' people half out of their wits.

Oh, well, Miss Ida, that old jaybird's

makin' so much noise here...

that, uh,

Chris just William Tell'd him.

My land!

Can't let a little jaybird

hardly open its mouth.

Well, you know how it is,

Miss Ida, with us writin' folks.

We don't get

much compensation.

About all we get is just the right

to act about half-cracked.

Half-cracked? Hmph!

If I hadn't lived next door to you for 20 years,

I'd say you were all cracked.

Now, you let

that jaybird alone!

Miss Ida's got her dander up.

She don't mean nothin' though.

Say, listen here...

you hustle out and see

if you can't collect some money...

for some subscriptions

around here.

People keep orderin' my paper.

Oughta be worth somethin'.

Oh, yes, sir.

Gonna get back

to first principles here.

You just keep on hollerin'

up there.

I'm just gonna-

David and Goliath now.

Thank you, kind sir.

Hey, how about

a little drive tonight?

You know schoolmarms aren't allowed out

except on Friday and Saturday nights.

- Oh, who'd find out?

- Nobody, because I'm not going.

Besides, I have some

examination papers to correct.

I'm gonna tell the old man

to look for a new teacher.

No. No, you can't do that.

- Why not? You're gonna marry me, aren't you?

- Well-

Oh, excuse me. I, uh-

I'm just out here prowlin' around,

hidin' from Miss Ida.

I'm tryin' to get out of here.

- What's the matter? Jaybirds again?

- Yeah.

See ya tomorrow, Adele.

So long, old-timer.

Old-timer." Fresh thing.

Young folks ain't got any respect

for their elders anymore.

Don't include me in that.

Say, ain't there some kind

of law in this town...

where a schoolteacher's

not supposed to go out...

with every Tom, Dick and... Joe?

It's only in the dark

we aren't trusted.

I don't know

nothin' about it, but, uh-

I'm just warnin' ya.

Mr. Ken?

Hmm?

What's your honest opinion

of Joe Abercrombie?

Well, he's got

awful pretty white teeth.

Be serious.

He's asked me to marry him.

You gonna do it?

Oh, Joe's all right,

but I don't know.

Well, you're gonna inherit

a lot of great kinfolks.

You don't think much

of his father, do you?

Oh, I don't know. l-

The old colonel's all right, I guess.

Kind of egotistical.

He may not exactly admit that he's

responsible for the rains we've been havin'...

but I think he'll tell you

that it was his original idea.

Still, you haven't answered

my question about Joe.

Now, listen,

I don't look any too bright...

but givin' advice to the lovelorn

ain't one of my weaknesses.

Joe's all right.

Besides, he might grow up

to be like his father.

Kenesaw, you come back here!

Kenesaw Clark!

The old boy's getting better all the time.

Listen to this.

This morning, I ate nine biscuits

and seven sausages for breakfast.

If I had been worth a million dollars,

I couldn't have held another bite."

- Hello, Ken.

- Howdy, Ken.

Well, I hope I'm not

disturbing you boys.

Oh, no. Just looking over the stuff

you wrote for next week's column.

- Mmm. There's plenty of truth in this one too, Ken.

- What?

At 20, we don't care

what the world thinks of us.

At 30, we worry about

what it thinks of us.

At 40, we're sure

it doesn't think of us."

That's hittin'the nail on the head.

You boys oughta be good critics. I hope

the payin' subscribers like it that well.

He means you!

Say, here's one.

Let's see if this hits

the nail on the head.

Loafing in a print shop...

has got sleepin' at home

beat all holler.

You don't have to send

the sheets to the laundry."

- Uh-oh. I get it.

- Which way out?

Don't mean us, do you, Ken?

Oh, no, no.

I didn't mean you.

You boys don't loaf here.

You don't loaf here.

You live here.

You reckon you can do

any better with an ax?

You ain't gettin' along

so fast here.

You're goin' back.

You're gettin' old.

Blamed ol' termite.

Come on. Get out. Come on.

What's the matter here?

My Lord. Here, here.

How'd you ever go to enough effort

to get it in there anyhow?

You can gnaw away more wood

than a badger can.

Come on.

With all that fur on your face...

you're beginning to look

like a badger anyhow.

Yeah. Them concrete houses

are gonna give you-

- Hello, Kenesaw.

- Well!

If It aint Tom Cotton. I aint seen ya

since the cows come home.

Well, I thought I'd bring in my subscription,

Kenesaw, while I was able.

You ain't thinkin'

about dyin' again, are you?

Well, none of us knows

when the call's comin'.

I'm hopin' to be prepared.

That's all.

Well, you come to the wrong fella

to talk about dying.

Take me now.

I'm just beginning to live.

It's all right enough for you to say,

but I'm pushin' 60.

Ah, 60! Why, you're just now ready

for your first mint of long pants.

Wait a minute. Here, don't sit down.

- What's the matter?

- Old T.'s been in here...

and he might've gnawed

a leg off of that chair.

Go ahead. It's all right.

This is-

This is no laughin' matter, Kenesaw.

That's the reason

I came to you.

Let me sweep up here

a little bit.

Can't tell whether you're in

a printin' shop or lumberyard.

I'm thinkin' that you'd help me fix up

my last will and testament...

so as my children can't make fools

of themselves after I'm gone.

I suppose they've always done everything

that you wanted 'em to do.

No, they haven't.

That's the trouble.

Never could do anything with 'em.

Oh. You can't do anything

with 'em while you're livin'...

and you wanna control 'em

after you're dead.

- Is that it?

- Well, I know they're not gonna

waste my money when I'm gone.

Oh, yeah? Looks like

the government tax makers...

is gonna fix it so you ain't

gonna have to worry about that.

Oh, it's got so I can't sleep nights

just thinkin' about it.

Hey, aint you the fella...

that, when we was boys

in school together...

used to always be talkin' about you was

gonna get a lot of fun out of life?

Well, I've been too busy.

And once you get started,

it ain't so easy as you think.

I'm not the only one.

There are thousands like me.

- Somebody's got to run the world.

- Ah!

Run the world" my granny.

You rich men is all alike. You spend

all your life makin' some money...

and then you get old and you

don't know what to do with it.

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