174 TOM YATES AND THE COASTERS 



for me. We saw little ragged boys bring in 

 old cigar stumps that they had picked up in 

 the hotels and on the streets, to be used over 

 again. And then I saw them sprinkle liquor 

 over the tobacco leaves that were to be made 

 into cigars and cigarets." 



"Whew !" whistled Roy, "Are you telling the 

 truth, old fellow? If you are, I guess I'll 

 just make over to you these cigarets I 

 bought today," and pulling out half a dozen 

 he handed them to Tom. 



The boys had become so much interested in 

 what was being said, that they had stopped 

 half way up the hill and now stood clustered 

 around manly Tom Yates, who took the cigar- 

 ets and stamping them under his feet, said to 

 the boys : 



"Now you all know just as well as I do how 

 much harm all this liquor business does, and 

 I should like to know who is going to help 

 put it down twenty years from now if it isn't 

 us boys and girls? I think we ought to go 

 regularly to these meetings and learn how to do 

 it. Let's all go this afternoon." 



"Tom, you're right, and I'm going with 



