They are made pleasant to some , but I would more rather give my boys gunpowder to play with than this bad trash . '' `` All may not be bad , only silly , you know , and if there is a demand for it , I do n't see any harm in supplying it . Many very respectable people make an honest living out of what are called sensation stories , '' said Jo , scratching gathers so energetically that a row of little slits followed her pin . `` There is a demand for whisky , but I think you and I do not care to sell it . If the respectable people knew what harm they did , they would not feel that the living was honest . They haf no right to put poison in the sugarplum , and let the small ones eat it . No , they should think a little , and sweep mud in the street before they do this thing . '' Mr. Bhaer spoke warmly , and walked to the fire , crumpling the paper in his hands . Jo sat still , looking as if the fire had come to her , for her cheeks burned long after the cocked hat had turned to smoke and gone harmlessly up the chimney . `` I should like much to send all the rest after him , '' muttered the Professor , coming back with a relieved air . Jo thought what a blaze her pile of papers upstairs would make , and her hard-earned money lay rather heavily on her conscience at that minute . Then she thought consolingly to herself , `` Mine are not like that , they are only silly , never bad , so I wo n't be worried , '' and taking up her book , she said , with a studious face , `` Shall we go on , Sir ? I 'll be very good and proper now . '' `` I shall hope so , '' was all he said , but he meant more than she imagined , and the grave , kind look he gave her made her feel as if the words Weekly Volcano were printed in large type on her forehead . As soon as she went to her room , she got out her papers , and carefully reread every one of her stories . Being a little shortsighted , Mr. Bhaer sometimes used eye glasses , and Jo had tried them once , smiling to see how they magnified the fine print of her book . Now she seemed to have on the Professor 's mental or moral spectacles also , for the faults of these poor stories glared at her dreadfully and filled her with dismay . `` They are trash , and will soon be worse trash if I go on , for each is more sensational than the last . I 've gone blindly on , hurting myself and other people , for the sake of money . I know it 's so , for I ca n't read this stuff in sober earnest without being horribly ashamed of it , and what should I do if they were seen at home or Mr. Bhaer got hold of them ? ''
XXXXX turned hot at the bare idea , and stuffed the whole bundle into her stove , nearly setting the chimney afire with the blaze .
Bhaer Jo Professor Weekly fire home minute paper right sugarplum