In course of time the father married and brought home his new bride.  At first John was very shy; but he was glad.  Oh, how he wished that she would be what he had day-dreamed that his own mother might have been!  He could then have given her all his love and confidence.  He could have told her all his boyish plans for the future, asking her for the advice he would need.  But the new mother failed to fulfill his hopes.  Even she did not understand the longings of his boyish heart; nor did she realize that the poor little neglected boy was measuring her by what he had imagined a true mother to be.  She was kind to John; but that was all.  Her time and attention were given to her husband; and John daily saw the gulf between his father and himself widening and deepening.  A feeling of discord crept into John’s heart; all attraction for home was severed; and he felt that his happiness would have to be sought from other sources.

CHAPTER VI

Visitors and Pastimes

During the winter that followed his father’s marriage, John’s stepmother’s brother came to live with the family; and the influence of this stepuncle, whose name was Ed, was as bad or worse than Will’s or Charley’s could ever have been; for Ed was older and wiser, and knew much more of sin.

In Ed’s home both the father and the mother used tobacco a long time before their child was born.  When he was just a little infant, he worried and cried a great deal.  He continued to do this, seemingly never to be satisfied, until finally the parents imagined that he wanted tobacco; and sure enough he did.  The mother tied a small amount in a rag and gave it to her baby to suck, and immediately he became quiet and contented.  So, from that time she gave him tobacco to stop his crying.  As he grew, the quantity he used gradually increased until, when he was in his teens, he spent much of his money for tobacco.  He went without many of the necessary things of life in order that he might have the money those things would cost to spend for tobacco.

The Bible tells us that God is abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin ...  Parents may be sorry for their sins, and be forgiven for their transgressions; but their children must suffer from inherited ill-dispositions, unnatural appetites, or diseases....  Oh, what a responsibility is resting upon the parents of the future generations!

Now, tobacco acts directly on the mind.  It clouds the understanding and dulls the memory; and sometimes it has much worse effects.  The story is told of the experience of a brilliant young man—­a graduate from Andover College—­who, for a time, seemed to have a wonderful future before him.  After a few short successful years, however, all hopes were blighted; he was thrown into an insane asylum a physical wreck.  The doctors said that tobacco had done it; but regardless of this, he was each day