Grandmother and the Smoking Indian

One cold wintery night, my Grandmother, Lucy Elizabeth Heaton, invited an old Indian into her home to have supper with the family. After supper the men folks went out to do the evening chores, but the old Indian pulled up his chair before the fire and got out his sack of tobacco and started to smoke.

Now Grandmother was quite strict on what went on in her home and if she did not like it she put her foot down on it - and smoking was one of these. When she smelled the tobacco smoke coming into the kitchen from the front room, she went to see who the offender was. She found the old Indian peacefully smoking by the warm fire. She told him she didn't like people smoking where she was and asked him to go outside. The Indian sat for a few moments puffing away, then turned to Grandmother and said, "you no like tobacco, you go out." Grandmother picked up the broom and the Indian soon got out.

C. Leonard Heaton