CHAPTER II

In the Sod Cellar

Almost without exception the homes on the prairies were provided with sod cellars.  Even the few modern dwellings in the community in which John’s uncle lived were not without 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 winter use.  And very often, too, a large quantity of tobacco leaves that had been dried and kept back when the summer’s crop was sold could be discovered in one of these places.

The home of John’s uncle was provided with just such a cellar—­a deep hole dug in the ground and covered over with a dense roofing of brush, mud, and sod.  Within 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 use his uncle put the tobacco.  He knew also that his cousin Will both chewed and smoked the leaves, but it had not occurred to him that he himself 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.