肯尼思热爱绘画，热爱大自然，他觉得四处刷写张贴的商业广告是对美景的一种亵渎。他四处奔走，用自己的方式抵制到处乱写的商业广告。肯尼思的行为不但没有得到街坊四邻的支持，反而受到他们的嘲弄。沃尔森先生决定插手此事，他安排了一次村民大会，让肯尼思在会上发言以赢得大家的支持。肯尼思的演讲很精彩，然而，半路却杀出个强烈反对的议员来……
When Kenneth got home he told Mr.Watson of his discovery and asked the old gentleman to write to the sign painter and ？nd out what could be done.The lawyer laughed heartily at his young friend's whima，but agreed to help him.
"If you are going to try to prevent rural advertising，"heremarked，"you'll ？nd your hands full."Kenneth looked up smiling."Thank you，"he said.
"For what？"
"For ？nding me something to do.I'm sick of this inaction."Again the lawyer laughed.
"What is your idea？"he asked.
"To remove such eyesoresb as advertising signs from the neighborhood of Elmhurst.""It's a Titan's task，Ken.""So much the better."The lawyer grew thoughtful.
"I believe it's impossible，"he ventured.
"Better yet.I don't say I'll succeed，but I promise to try.I want something to occupy myself—something really dif？cult，so that I may test my own powers.""But，my dear boy！This foolish proposition isn't worthyyour effort.If you want to be up and doing we'll ？nd something else to occupy your mind.""No，Mr.Watson；I'm set on this.It's a crime to allowthese signs to flaunta themselves in our prettiest scenes.My instinct revolts atb the desecration.Besides，no one else seems to have undertaken the task of exterminatingc them.""True enough.If you're serious，Ken，I'll frankly say thething can't be done.You may，perhaps，buy the privilege of maintaining the rocks of the glen free from advertising；but the advertisers will paint more signs on all the approaches，and you won't have gained much.""I'll drive every advertising sign out of this country.""Impossible.The great corporations who control theseindustries make their fortunes by this style of advertising.The rural districts are their strongholdsd.And they must advertise or they can't sell their products.""Let them advertise in decent ways，then.What right hasany soap maker to flaunt his wares in my face，whether I'm interested in them or not？""The right of custom.People have submitted to these things so long that the manufacturers consider themselves justified in covering every barn，rock and fence with their signs.I see no way to stop them.""Nor I，at present.But there must be a way.""Drive out one，and another will take his place.They pay liberally for locations—""Pshawa！Ten dollars a year for a rock as big as a barn！""But they rent thousands of such positions，and in theaggregateb our farmers get large sums from them.""And ruin the appearance of their homes and farms."Mr.Watson smiled.
"They're not artists，Ken.They can't realize on appea—rances，but they can use the money the signs bring them.""They need to be educated，that's all.These farmers seem very honest，decent fellows.""They are，Ken.I wish you knew them better.""So do I，Mr.Watson.This campaign ought to bring us closer together，for I mean to get them to help me.""You'll have to buy them，I'm afraid.""Not all of them.There must be some re？nement among them."But the lawyer was not convinced.However，it was nothis desire to sti？ec this new—born enthusiasm of Kenneth's，even though he believed it misdirected.He wanted the young man to rouse himself and take an interest in life，and if his antagonismd to advertising signs would effect this，the futilee ？ght against them was to be welcomed.It would cost the boy something，but he would gain his money's worth in experience.
After a few days the sign painter answered the letter.He would r e l i n q u i s ha the three signs in the glen for a payment of fifty dollars each，with the understanding that no other competing signs were to take their place.Kenneth promptly mailed a check for the amount demanded and earlynext morning started for the glen with what he called his "eliminators."These "eliminators"consisted of two men with cans of turpentineb and gasoline and an equipment of scrubbing brushes.Parsons，the farmer，came over to watch this novelproceeding，happy in the possession of three crisp ？ve—dollarnotes given in accordance with the agreement made with him.All day the two men scrubbed the rocks faithfully，assisted at odd times by their impatient employer；but the thick splashes of paint clung desperately to the rugged surface of the rock，and the task was a hard one.When evening came the letters had almost disappeared when viewed closely；but when Kenneth rode to the mouth of the glen on his way home and paused to look back，he could see the injunction "Take Smith's Liver Pills"staring at him，in grim defiancec of the scrubbing brushes.
But his energy was not exhausted.No one ever knew what it cost in labor and material to erase those three signs；but after ten days they had vanished completely，and theboy heaved a sigh of satisfaction and turned his attention to extending the campaign.
On the farm nearest to Elmhurst at the north，whichbelonged to a man named Webb，was a barn，facing the road，which displayed on its side a tobacco sign.Kenneth interviewed Mr.Webb and found that he received no money for the sign；but the man contended that the paint preserved his barn from the weather on that side.So Kenneth agreed to repaint the entire barn for him，and actually had the work done.As it took many coats of paint to blot outa the sign it was rather an expensive operation.
By this time the campaign of the youthful proprietor of Elmhurst against advertising signs began to be talked of throughout the county，and was the subject of much merrimentb among the farmers.Some of them were intelligent enough to admire the young Quixote，and acknowledged frankly that it was a pity to decorate their premises with signs of patent medicines and questionable soaps.
