"Come on with us," said Jim, who was a new boy in school. "Danny
Rugg and some of the rest of us are going to have some sport."
"What doing?" asked Bert.
"Smoking cigarettes back of the coal house. I've got a whole pack."
"No; I don't smoke," said Bert quietly.
"Bah! You're afraid!" sneered Jim. "Cigarettes can't hurt you.
It's only cigars and pipes that do."
"Yes, I admit I am afraid," said Bert "I'm afraid of getting sick. Besides, I promised my mother I wouldn't smoke until I was twenty-one, and I'm not going to tell a story. Anyhow, I've got an uncle who smokes, and he says cigarettes are worse than a pipe or cigars, and he ought to know."
"Aw, come on!" urged Jim.
"No," said Bert firmly, and he would not go. Jim went off with Danny and some of the other boys, and they were laughing among themselves. Bert felt that they were laughing at him, but he did not mind.
There was to be an examination of the school by some of the members of the Board of Education late that afternoon, and, directly after recess, Mr. Tetlow went to each room to tell the pupils and teachers to get ready for it, and to put certain work on the blackboards, so it could be seen.
When the principal got to the room where Danny Rugg and his particular chums sat, Mr Tetlow, sniffing the air suspiciously, said: