Novel Bonfire

The author experienced something very unusual one Sunday afternoon in a
camp where he was invited to speak. The talk was on "Trees or Growth," one
of the studies of the course described. During the talk a number of things
were referred to that enter into the growth of a tree which either mar or
hinder it from becoming a symmetrical, beautiful tree and a similar
comparison was made regarding a boy's growth. The question was asked of
the boys, "What are some of the things which interfere with a boy's growth
physically, mentally and morally?" A number of things, such as smoking,
swearing, impurity, etc., were given, and finally one of the small boys
piped up "reading dime novels." His answer was received with howls of
derision, especially from the older boys. "Hold on," I said, "let's
discuss the matter; if dime novels are good for a boy's growth mentally,
we want to know about it, but if they are detrimental to this particular
kind of desired growth, of course, we want to cut it out." The discussion
brought out the fact that a number of the boys had smuggled a lot of this
kind of literature into camp and were just loafing through their time in
the woods, gloating over the wonderful and daring escapades of Wild West
heroes. The boys finally decided that their mental growth was retarded by
such reading. Then came the question, "What are you going to do about it?"
"We don't usually have a bonfire on Sunday," I said. "I am inclined,
however, to ask your leader for a special dispensation and we will have
one.

You are to furnish the fuel, your leader the kerosene oil and I will
provide the match. The fuel is to consist of all the dime novels in the
camp." "Whew!" "I know it will take grit to do this, but it is a test of
your sincerity and determination to progress along right lines." "We're
game?" yelled the boys, "and we mean business."