Page:Keeping the Peace.pdf/101

 chase upstairs and put it back before she comes home. I'd hate to see you caught with it almost as much as I would have hated to be caught with it myself."

When Edward returned to the parlor it was to discover John in the act of lighting a short black pipe.

"You'll catch it!" said Edward.

"Nothing like trying," said John. "Ever smoke?"

Edward shook his head.

"It's a good plan not to smoke till you've got your growth, but don't go through life without giving it a trial. It never hurt anybody yet, and it's a lot of comfort."

"Mother says it turns people's lungs black."

"A blackish green, I believe," said John. "And what harm does that do? The sun turns faces brown, and cold weather makes fingers blue and noses red."

"A pipe smells good," said Edward, "don't it?"

John nodded.

"Lots better than some of the perfumes women use. Ruth smells like a drug store. What's the matter with her back, anyway? Is she faking?"

"She does it," said Edward, "to make Bruce feel bad, and then he'll do anything she wants."

A new photograph of James caught John's eye.