f could do so.

The reason why he had not thought of using it was perhaps that his
father had once told him that the using of tobacco was a bad habit and
urged him to let it alone. But the fact that he had not been tempted did
not guarantee that he would not be; the fact that he had no appetite for
tobacco did not conclusively prove that he would never acquire one; nor
did the fact that he had been told to let tobacco alone warrant that he
would need no further watching--for an unforeseen temptation was lurking
near.

One day when John went into the cellar with his cousin Will, his cousin
filled a pipe with the leaves and offered it to him, bidding him smoke.
John shook his head, and said that he did not want to smoke, for his
father had said that using tobacco was a bad habit and that it would
ruin his health.

"Then, why does he use it himself?" Will reasoned. "Do you suppose that
he would use it if he thought that it was going to hurt him? Now, John,
look here; you said that you wanted to become a man. Here's your chance.
If you get to where you can smoke a pipe, chew tobacco, and spit, in the
way that your father and my dad do, you will be a man. Just some folks'
saying that it is a bad habit doesn't need to make any difference with
you."

As John thought over his cousin's words, they did seem reasonable, and
he remembered that all the men he had ever seen used tobacco. So he
decided that, if he expected to be a man himself, he must soon begin to
use it, too. He therefore accepted the pipe and began to puff vigorously
at the stem. But try as he would, he couldn't make the pretty little
curls of smoke mount up into the air as he had watched his father and
other men do. Very soon, however, a deathly sickness began to steal over
him. His head and stomach hurt, and he could scarcely help falling down
on the floor of the cellar.

"O Will," he said, as he gave the pipe to his cousin, "I am so sick!
Let's get out of here. I feel as though I was going to die!" And John
started in an attempt to find the opening through which he had entered
the cellar, but to his surprise and terror he could not find it.

"O Will," he said, "this is all your fault! You know I didn't want to
smoke. I wish now that I hadn't listened to you. Father said tobacco
would make me sick, but I didn't know it would be so bad as this. Tell
me, does it always make people sick? and do they ever die?"

"Yes, it usually makes them pretty sick," Will