How John Became a Man by Isabel C. Byrum
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HOW JOHN BECAME A MAN
Life Story of a Motherless Boy
By
ISABEL C. BYRUM
[Illustration: Learning to Pray]
Author's Preface
In presenting this little volume, the author hopes that it may be useful
in suggesting to the minds of young boys the great wrong there is in
indulging in evil habits.
We read, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," and this is
true concerning most boys who form habits that are harmful both to body
and soul.
The story of John's life is a true one; and his earnest prayer that it
may be the means of helping some boys from Satan's snares and prove a
blessing to them, I trust, will be answered.
Isabel C. Byrum
Year 1917
Contents
Chapter
I The Prairie Pasture
II In the Sod Cellar
III What the Big Chest Contained
IV Early School Days
V The Card Parties
VI Visitors and Pastimes
VII Leaving Home
VIII With the Circus
IX Caught Unawares
X A Child Again
XI How John Became a Man
ILLUSTRATIONS
Learning to Pray
Opening the Chest
A Card Party
Leaving the Old Homestead
CHAPTER I
The Prairie Pasture
Out on the prairie in one of the western states where buffaloes and
wild horses once had roamed at their pleasure and where cacti and
yuccas still thrived and bloomed could be seen a small two-story frame
building. There was nothing strange in this except that the house was
different from the average house of the plains; for at this particular
time the greater part of the dwellings were made of sod, mud, and brush.
The people, generally speaking, were of that type who think principally
of getting all the enjoyment from their every-day lives that it is
possible to obtain. There was, therefore, little thought among them of
the hereafter, when men must give an account of themselves before a just
and living God. In fact, the younger generation scarcely knew that there
was a God who took note of all their ways.
The building, so different from the ordinary dwellings upon the prairie,
was the home of a tiny lad named John. It was a happy home; for both
his parents were living, and the love that bound their hearts together
brought peace and happiness to each member of the little household. But
could this happy group have known of the presence of a grim monster just
outside the door, who at that very moment was seeking an entrance, their
joy would have given place to sorrow. Death was soon to destroy the
light and comfort of that home. The devoted wife and mother was not
strong; and after a severe illness lasting but a few short days, her
spirit left the ones she loved and her lifeless body was carried to
its last resting place in the cemetery a few miles away.
Little John was, of course, too young to realize the true meaning of the
change; but that something dreadful had happened he very well knew, and
his large pathetic eyes spoke the grief that he did understand and could
not express. During the three years of his short life he had known the
care of a tender, loving mother, whose ambitions were high and noble.
Although not a Christian, she had often expressed her wish that her
little brown-eyed boy might grow up to be an honor to his father and
mother, and a blessing to his country. After her death his papa's eyes
were often filled with tears, for he loved and pitied his little boy.
One evening when the lights were dim and the hands of the clock were
pointing to the bedtime hour, John felt his father's arms tenderly
encircled about him and heard him softly saying: "My little John, we are
left all alone now, and you must hurry up and become a man as soon as
you can; for I need you to help me. Mama has gone away and left us, and
she cannot teach you the things that she had planned that you should
know; so we will have to do the best that we can, but you must help me.
First of all, I want you to learn how to pray; for there is a God in
heaven, who made you, and of whom your mother expected to tell you.
Before Him we should bow down and pray every night before we go to
sleep."
"Does He hear all the words we say?" asked little John in an awed tone,
quite unable to comprehend his father's meaning, "and does He look at us
when we are asleep?"
"Yes," his father answered; "God sees and knows everything. Now, I will
tell you the short prayer that I used to say when I was a little boy
like you--the prayer that my mother taught me."
Thus it was that John, kneeling beside his little bed repeated the
prayer that has been lisped by thousands of other baby voices:
"Now I lay me down to sleep;
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take."
As the days and weeks sped by, John thought often of his dear mama and
wished that he might see her; but he as often would recall his father's
words to be a little man, and with all his strength he endeavored to be
what he considered a man ought to be. But although he tried, in his
childish way, to be one, he was often very lonely; and had it not been
for frequent visits to his uncle's home, several miles distant, he would
have missed his precious mother even more than he did. While at his
uncle's, he could play with his two cousins, Will and Charley. At last
it was decided that it would be best for John and his father to go and
make their home with the uncle until John was older.
Now Charley was just about John's age; but as Charley was a cripple,
John had chosen Will, who was several years the oldest, to be his
closest friend and companion. Regardless of these facts, however, the
three boys generally played together. Their playground was the vast
dooryard extending far out over the prairie.
In time they were given the responsibility of herding the cows. To herd
the cows meant to see that the cattle did not wander about in the
neighborhood corn, wheat, and barley fields that were scattered about
here and there over the prairies and that were in but few instances
fenced, and to see that they were driven to some water-place at certain
intervals and were brought home at the milking hour.
The watering places were known as "buffalo-wallows," for they had been
made by the buffalos in wallowing. These basins were usually kept filled
with water by the rains. Some of the "wallows," or "ponds," were rather
deep, and were treacherous because of sudden "drop-offs"; but they were
usually shallow, and it was generally safe for the children to play
along the edge.
After the first sharp edge of his grief was dulled, John's father did
not feel it so keenly his duty to instruct his child and to teach him
to reverence his Creator; and when John was about six years of age, the
father was kept so busy with his work that he had but little time to
spend with the child. John's aunt, too, although a good woman, was too
much occupied with housekeeping to do her duty by her own two boys, much
less by a third. So John and his cousins had spent nearly all of the
three years that they had been together in doing as they pleased, and in
finding as much enjoyment in living as it was possible for them to find.
It was, therefore, not strange that they had learned and invented many
new ways to get amusement, and that some of these were evil; for Satan,
as he always does in such cases, had lent them a helping hand.
The work of attending to the cows did not, of course, occupy nearly all
their time, and the boys found it great sport to play around the wallows
and in them.
On one occasion Will said:
"Say, boys, did you ever hear the story about the man who walked upon
the water? I don't remember just how the story went; but I heard
somebody say that the man's name was Jesus, and that another man got out
of a boat to go and meet Him. The first fellow did all right, but the
second one came very near drowning because he looked down at the water.
Maybe he wanted to see how deep the water was, and I guess he would have
got drowned if they hadn't been close to the shore. Now, I am going to
do like Jesus did. Want to see me?"
Naturally both the boys wanted to see him perform a feat like that, and
Will quickly scampered into the water. Now, the wallow was very shallow
all the way across, and Will was soon on the opposite side. The smaller
boys, not knowing the depth of the water, supposed that it was deep and
that Will had actually done some marvelous thing. Will did not know that
he was doing wrong by speaking lightly of one of the Savior's miracles;
for he had never been in Sunday-school, and his parents had not taught
him the sacredness of the words and acts of the Savior. He simply wanted
to play a joke on his companions.
The smaller boys talked the matter over when they were alone, and John
said:
"Say, Charley, what do you suppose held Will up the other day on that
water? That wallow must have been deep out in the middle. Let's try it
some time for ourselves when Will isn't around. I believe we could do it
as well as he did."
Charley was agreed, and the two smaller lads watched their chance. One
day when Will was not with them, they chose a wallow that they thought
would answer their purpose. "I'll go first," Charley said, and he
hurried forward as rapidly as his little crippled limb could carry him,
to the water's edge and out into the pond.
Suddenly poor little Charley disappeared. John saw his cousin as he
went down into the deep water, and realized his danger. He knew that
something must be done and done at once, and with a bound he sprang in
after his companion. He did not, however, go beyond the shallow water,
and when his cousin came to the surface, he reached out his hand and
caught him by the hair; and as Charley had not lost the power to help
himself, he was soon able, by John's assistance, to scramble to a place
of safety.
The boys decided that they would say nothing about the accident; and as
they remained away from the house long enough for Charley's clothing to
dry, no questions were asked. But was the scene unnoticed? No. He who
notes the sparrow's fall was watching over these little boys; He had not
forgotten John's little prayer that had been taught him by his father.
God was caring for these little untaught children in that vast prairie
pasture.
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.
"O Will," he said, as he gave the pipe to his cousin, "I am so sick!
Let's get out of here. I feel as though I was going to die!" And John
started in an attempt to find the opening through which he had entered
the cellar, but to his surprise and terror he could not find it.
"O Will," he said, "this is all your fault! You know I didn't want to
smoke. I wish now that I hadn't listened to you. Father said tobacco
would make me sick, but I didn't know it would be so bad as this. Tell
me, does it always make people sick? and do they ever die?"
"Yes, it usually makes them pretty sick," Will answered. "But they
always get over it; and each time they smoke, they get more used to it,
or something, and after a while they don't get sick at all. Look at me.
It never makes me sick, but it did at first. Surely you can stand a
little sickness when you know that it is going to make a man of you!"
John concluded that under those circumstances he could endure his
suffering. But he did not try to smoke any more that morning. With
Will's assistance he found the doorway of the cellar and went out where
the air was more pure. Gradually, he began to feel better. When dinner
time came, however, he did not care to eat; but he kept repeating to
himself, "It won't be this way long, and I can afford to suffer if it
will make a man of me." How sad to think that one so young should be
so deceived!
Could someone have taught him then that the sick feeling that had so
distressed him was caused by the strong poison contained in the tobacco,
it might have encouraged him never to touch it again. Had his father
explained that every pound of tobacco contains three hundred and twenty
grains of this poison, one grain of which will kill a large dog in about
three minutes; or told him the story of how a man once ran a needle and
thread that had been dipped in the poison through the skin of a frog and
of how the frog in a few moments began to act like a drunken person,
vomited, and hopped about as fast as possible, and then laid down,
twitched for a moment in agony, and died; or informed him that many
people become insane just through the use of tobacco, John might have
yet been influenced to leave the poisonous stuff alone--but perhaps his
father did not know. Anyway, John was left without this much-needed
information.
Boys who are not properly warned of the danger of tobacco-using are to
be pitied more than blamed if they indulge; but their ignorance does not
lessen the harm and the evils wrought. When the poison gets into the
system, it affects the most vital organs; it undermines that strength
and destroys that beauty which ornament true manhood and which assure an
individual of success. Besides, the continued using causes the indulger
to form a habit that cannot be easily overcome.
John, being not fully warned of the dreadful consequences of using
tobacco, and yet determined to become a man, kept on smoking until he
so accustomed his system to the shock that he felt satisfied he was
becoming a conqueror and would soon be able to show his father that
he was now a man.
During the time that John was undergoing such severe temptation, his
father was very busy. He realized that his child needed more instruction
than he was receiving and that Will's influence over John was not good;
but just what advice to give, he hardly knew. Once he thought that he
could smell tobacco smoke on his boy's clothing so calling John to his
side, he said:
"John, I feel that I must tell you something more about certain bad
habits that so many boys form while they are young. You remember I told
you that smoking and chewing tobacco ruin many a life. Now, I am not
going to say that you cannot use tobacco; but I wish that for my sake,
as well as for your own, you would let it alone, for it is indeed a very
bad habit."
To this advice John made no reply; for an appetite was being formed,
and in his heart he decided to keep right on. It would have been better
could his father have remembered the temptations of his own boyhood
days. He might then have more fully realized how next to impossible it
is for a parent to availingly teach his child to do something without
first setting before the child an example that is worthy of imitation.
Could he have helped his little son to understand the true meaning of
manhood and the necessity of building up within himself in youth a
noble, honest, and always-to-be-depended-upon character, as well as the
need of developing a strong body, he might have laid a foundation upon
which John could have later safely builded.
John dearly loved his father and wanted to please him. And to his mind
he could best please his father by as quickly as possible becoming a
man. So, with the thought of early manhood ever before him, he felt
that, in using tobacco, he was doing right. And then, too, Charley had
learned to smoke and chew, and it would be very hard indeed to be near
the boys and not to join in with them.
By the time that John had passed his seventh birthday, the small amount
of tobacco that was kept in the cellar was not sufficient to fill the
demand of the three boys without too rapidly diminishing the uncle's
supply, and the boys decided to look elsewhere.
Now, John's aunt had at one time explained to the boys that lying and
stealing are wrong; but she had not made it clear that deceiving is
lying and that taking little things that did not belong to them, even
though they took the things from some member of the family, is stealing,
and that just such thefts lead to the greater crimes that send men and
women to prison. Instead, she gave the advice in such a way that, though
they were impressed with a horror of stealing, the boys could only in
part comprehend her meaning. But because she had warned them, she felt
that she had done her duty and that they ought to know right from wrong
in regard to that matter without further explanation.
She did not realize that it was her duty to watch, encourage, and
advise, and also to find out when mischief was being planned. In fact,
this aunt and mother, busy with her own cares, knew nothing of the
possibilities for a child whose confidence and love had been won, and
who, through loving counsel, had gained a knowledge of evils and their
effects before he had formed ruinous habits or his mind had been
polluted with false ideas. Being thus left to themselves to discern as
best they could the difference between right and wrong, the boys nearly
always chose the wrong; and as a result, constantly went deeper and
deeper into sinful things.
CHAPTER III
What the Big Chest Contained
Great sins always have a beginning; the first attempts to do evil are
not hard to check if taken in time, but if allowed to be carried out, it
is impossible to tell what the results may be. How sad it was that John
and his cousins did not have someone to check them!
The boys now decided to keep close watch, and to avail themselves of
every opportunity to procure tobacco, even if they were forced to steal
it. The word "steal" had, of course, a certain horror to John because
of the picture his aunt had described of a prison and a thief; but he
soothed his conscience by saying, "There isn't anything else in the
world except tobacco that I would think of stealing." But the stealing
habit, like the tobacco habit, continues to grow stronger, unless it
is in some way broken. As tobacco contains a poison that affects the
physical being, so in a similar manner lying and stealing have a ruinous
effect upon the moral nature. The three--lying, stealing, and tobacco
using--too often go hand in hand.
The first effort of the boys to secure the much-coveted tobacco was made
one day when they, while roaming about over the prairie, discovered a
man hard at work in a field. The man seemed to be lifting something that
was very heavy, and Will suggested to the boys that they go and lend
their services provided the man would give them each a chew of his
tobacco in return; and Will did not forget to add that they must each
take as generous a bite as their mouths could accommodate. The man was
glad to accept their help; and together with his own efforts, the work
was soon finished. Then, in fulfillment of his agreement, he handed them
his plug of tobacco that they might each take the "chew" he had promised
them.
According to Will's suggestion the boys did not stop with an ordinary
chew; but each took all that his mouth would contain. When they returned
the plug, it was so small that the boys were all afraid the man would
find fault with them; so they hurried away from the spot as rapidly as
possible. As soon as they were far enough away, they removed the tobacco
from their mouths; and they found that, by taking very small chews at
a time, the amount was sufficient to last them for some time. Several
times they succeeded in securing tobacco in this way, and by economizing
were able to get along pretty well for a while. But the plan did not
always work; for the neighbors' becoming aware of the scheme, prepared
themselves with a small piece of tobacco to offer the greedy boys.
After that, in order to secure their tobacco, they were often forced
to pick up partly-chewed quids, found where they had been thrown away
by the owners. These the boys usually washed; sometimes, however, in
their eagerness they could not wait to attend to even this amount of
cleanliness, but crammed the tobacco into their mouths just as they had
found it. Even cigar stubs; in fact, everything in the form of tobacco,
that had been thrown away, they eagerly gathered and used to satisfy
their ravenous appetites.
With a foundation now laid for both lying and stealing and with their
consciences dulled, the boys were constantly laying plans to gratify
their evil desires. Many a pocket they robbed of its contents if it
happened to contain tobacco in any form. But this was a slow process at
best; even under the most favorable circumstances it yielded them but
very little returns for their efforts. But one day Will informed the
boys that he had made a discovery--that he had found out that there was
a lot of plug tobacco in the big chest in his father's room. "Now, if we
could think up some way to get into that chest when the old folks are
gone away to town," he suggested, "we could get all the chewing tobacco
we would want for a long while. I thought I would watch and see where
Dad put the key, but he took it with him. Guess he carries it with him
everywhere he goes. I wonder if we couldn't manage in some way to break
the lock. My, but I tell you we could get a big haul! I wonder if we
hadn't better try it some day when the old folks go to town?"
"Hooray, that's just it!" shouted the smaller boys in the same breath.
And John asked quickly: "When will they go to town again? This is only
Wednesday."
"It won't be long, I'm sure," Will answered reassuringly. "They'll go
either Friday or Saturday sure. But we'll have to get busy and think out
a way to break that lock. My, but won't the old man be mad when he finds
out about it! We'll have to act just as if we couldn't see how on earth
such a thing could have happened."
"Yes; and we'll have to hide the tobacco good, or Pa might find it,"
chimed in Charley.
"Hey, Will," John exclaimed in a hurried undertone--for all the boys had
learned to speak low when mentioning their plans--"if we could take the
hinges off from the back of the chest, we wouldn't have to break the
lock at all."
"Why, John, that's just it! How in the world did you think of that
scheme?" Will exclaimed, as he slapped his little cousin on the back. "I
say, my boy, you had better look out or you'll be a man before your big
cousin! It doesn't matter, you know, about the height, if you have the
sense."