There was but one hope she thought left for her, to see her brother Jerry, and tease him into giving her one of his essays, that she might use it as it was if possible, if not, with alterations that would make it suit the occasion. She would tell him that she only wanted to read it and get some hints from it, and once in her possession, she could do as she pleased. 238
When she received his note refusing her invitation to come to the academy, her disappointment and her helplessness may be readily imagined, for she had allowed herself to depend upon him.
To write to him for an essay she knew would be useless; he would only laugh, and say,—
“Nonsense! what does Sue want one for?” but if he were with her, he was so kind and good-natured, he would do almost anything she asked.
But one thing now remained. Miss Randall, their teacher in rhetoric, who had the charge of the essays, gave subjects to those who wished them; she could apply to her, and perhaps find in the library something to help her.
Miss Randall gave her, remembering her former success, and hoping she would do even better now, an historical subject, “The Signal of Paul Revere.”
“There have not been more than a hundred poems written on the same subject,” she said in a little talk she had with Susan; “but if you can write poetry, and succeed, all the better for Montrose Academy. We will send it to the newspaper, and it may be the beginning of making your name famous.”
What a temptation to a girl like Susan!
If—only IF she could find one of those hundred or more poems, find perhaps the whole of them, and make rhymes (easy work that), and be “famous,” what a glorious thing it would be!
Here was, alas, no repentance, or even fears of doing wrong. It almost seemed as if the new temptation 239 had obliterated memory of the old theft, and she was about to enter upon what she had always longed for, a career of fame.