FIRE ! FIRE ! 



117 



slight service to your Majesty and the realm," replied the 

 courteous knight, " thee will be well content nevertheless." 



"But your Majesty will soon see that I fail not. First, 

 madam, I place this empty pipe in the scales, and I find that 

 it weighs exactly 2 ounces. I now fill it with tobacco, and 

 the weight is in- 

 creased to 2 l-10th 

 ounce. I must now 

 ask your Majesty to 

 allow me to smoke 

 the pipe out. I shall 

 then turn out the 

 ashes, and place them 

 together with the 

 pipe in the scale once 

 more. The differ- 

 ence between the 

 weight of the pipe 

 with the unsmoked 

 tobacco, and weight 

 of the pipe with the 

 ashes, will be the 

 weight of the smoke." 

 "You are too clever 

 for us, Sir "Walter. "We shall expect you to-night at supper, 

 and if the conversation grow dull, you shall tell our cour- 

 tiers the story of the pipe." 



Many other anecdotes have been told of the adventures of 

 Raleigh with his pipe. One is that while taking a quiet 

 smoke his servant entered and becoming alarmed on seeing 

 the smoke coming from his nose threw a mug of ale in his 

 face. 



The same anecdote is also related of others including 

 Tarlton. He gives an account of it in his Jests 1611. it is 

 told in this manner : 



" Tarlton as other gentlemen used, at the first coming up 

 of tobacco, did take it more for fashion's sake than otherwise, 

 and being in a roome, sat betweene two men overcome with 

 wine, and they never seeing the like, wondered at it, and 

 seeing the vapour come out of Tarlton's nose, cryed out, 

 4 Fire, fire !' and threw a cup of wine in Tarlton's face. 

 6 Make no more stirre,' quoth Tarlton, ' the fire is quenched ; 

 if the sheriffs come, it will turne a fine as the custom is.' 



WEIGHING SMOKE. 



