heap magazines. I'd stop the circulation of every last one of
them; pass an act of Congress to make every voter read some A-1,
high-class, intellectual stuff. I read Rev. Henry van Dyke and Newell
Dwight Hillis and Herbert Kaufman and Billy Sunday, and all these
brainy, inspirational fellows, and let me tell you I get a lot of
talking-points for selling my trade out of their spiels, too. I don't
_believe_ in all this cheap fiction--these nasty realistic stories (like
all the author could see in life was just the bad side of things--I tell
you life's bad enough without emphasizing the rotten side, all these
unhappy marriages and poverty and everything--I believe if you can't
write bright, optimistic, _cheerful_ things, better not write at all).
And all these sex stories! Don't believe in 'em! Sensational! Don't
believe in cheap literature of _no_ sort.... Oh, of course it's all
right to read a coupla detective stories or a nice, bright, clean
love-story just to pass the time away. But me, I like real, classy,
high-grade writers, with none of this slangy dialogue or vulgar stuff.
'Specially I like essays on strenuous, modern American life, about not
being in a rut, but putting a punch in life. Yes, _sir_!"

"I'm glad," said Una. "I do like improving books."

"You've said it, little sister.... Say, gee! you don't know what
a luxury it is for me to talk about books and literature with an
educated, cultured girl like you. Now take the rest of these people
here at the farm--nice folks, you understand, mighty well-traveled,
broad-gauged, intelligent folks, and all that. There's a Mr. and
Mrs. Cannon; he's some kind of an executive in the Chicago
stock-yards--nice, fat, responsible job. And he was saying to me,
'Mr. Schwirtz,' he says, 'Mrs. C. and I had never been to New England
till this summer, but we'd toured every other part of the country,
and we've done Europe thoroughly and put in a month doing Florida,
and now,' he says, 'I think we can say we've seen every point of
interest that's worth an American's time.' They're good American
people like that, well-traveled and nice folks. But _books_--Lord!
they can't talk about books no more than a Jersey City bartender. So
you can imagine how pleased I was to find you here.... World's pretty
small, all right. Say, I just got here yesterday, so I suppose we'll
be here about the same length o' time. If you wouldn't think I was
presumptuous, I'd like mighty well to show you some o