and I know the smell of tobacco used to make my mother about as sick
as she could be; but she had to stand it, or at least she did stand
it till father died; and now she lives with me, and I'm mighty glad
she don't have to smell no more tobacco

"She often speaks of it--mother does; and she says she's so thankful
she's got a boy that don't use tobacco. She says men that use
tobacco don't know how bad it is for other folks to smell 'em. Why,
sometimes I come home when I've just been driving a man some place
in the country, riding along like you and I are now, and he a
smoking or chewing, or at least his clothes soaked full of the vile
odor; and when I get home mother says, 'My! but you must have had an
old stink pot along with you to-day.' She can smell it on my
clothes, and I just hang my coat out in the shed till the scent gets
off from it.

"No, Sir, I don't want any tobacco for me, and I don't know as I'd
care to raise the stuff for other folks to saturate themselves with
either; and every kid is allowed to use it nowadays, or at least
most of them get it. It's easy enough to get it. Why, a kid can't
keep away from getting these cigarettes, if he tries. They're
everywhere. Every kid has hip pockets full; and I know blamed well
that some smoke so many cigarettes they get so they aren't more than
half bright. It's a fact, Sir,--plenty of 'em too; and some old men,
like Al Jones, are just so soaked in tobacco they seem about half
dead. Course it ain't like whiskey, but I think it's worse than beer
if beer didn't make one want whiskey later.

"But as I was saying, I feel that I have no business saying things
about,--about anybody you call your friend, and I think I'll just