How John Became a Man: Life Story of a Motherless Boy

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these old-fashioned cellars, which served as a protection in times of storms and tornadoes. The cellars served also as places in which to store the fruits and vegetables for w

hin this cellar a large supply of tobacco leaves had been stored. John had been in the cellar many times. He knew the tobacco was there, and he knew to what

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 nev

es and offered it to him, bidding him smoke. John shook his head, and said that he did not want to

ok 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 wa

oon 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

I feel as though I was going to die!" And John started in an attempt to find the opening t

hat I hadn't listened to you. Father said tobacco would make me sick, but I didn't know i

y get more used to it, or something, and after a while they don't get sick at all. Look at me. It never makes me sic

oorway of the cellar and went out where the air was more pure. Gradually, he began to feel better. When dinner time came, however, he did not care to eat; but he kep

e grain of which will kill a large dog in about three minutes; or told him the story of how a man once ran a needle and thread that had been dipped in the poison through the skin of a frog and of how the frog in a few moments began to act like a drunken person, vomited, and hopped about as fast as possible,

m and the evils wrought. When the poison gets into the system, it affects the most vital organs; it undermines that strength and destroys that beauty which or

o become a man, kept on smoking until he so accustomed his system to the shock that he felt sati

d more instruction than he was receiving and that Will's influence over John was not good; but just what advice to give, he

ou remember I told you that smoking and chewing tobacco ruin many a life. Now, I am not going to say that you cannot use

lized how next to impossible it is for a parent to availingly teach his child to do something without first setting before the child an example that is worthy of imitation. Could he have helped his little son to understand the true meaning of manho

becoming a man. So, with the thought of early manhood ever before him, he felt that, in using tobacco, he was doing right. And th

t was kept in the cellar was not sufficient to fill the demand of the three boys witho

hings from some member of the family, is stealing, and that just such thefts lead to the greater crimes that send men and women to prison. Instead, she gave the advice in such a way that, though they were impressed with a horror o

es for a child whose confidence and love had been won, and who, through loving counsel, had gained a knowledge of evils and their effects before he had formed ruinous habits or his mind had been polluted with false