Will you call for the money , or shall I send it ? '' asked Mr. Dashwood , who felt a natural desire to know who his new contributor might be . `` I 'll call . Good morning , Sir . '' As she departed , Mr. Dashwood put up his feet , with the graceful remark , `` Poor and proud , as usual , but she 'll do . '' Following Mr. Dashwood 's directions , and making Mrs. Northbury her model , Jo rashly took a plunge into the frothy sea of sensational literature , but thanks to the life preserver thrown her by a friend , she came up again not much the worse for her ducking . Like most young scribblers , she went abroad for her characters and scenery , and banditti , counts , gypsies , nuns , and duchesses appeared upon her stage , and played their parts with as much accuracy and spirit as could be expected . Her readers were not particular about such trifles as grammar , punctuation , and probability , and Mr. Dashwood graciously permitted her to fill his columns at the lowest prices , not thinking it necessary to tell her that the real cause of his hospitality was the fact that one of his hacks , on being offered higher wages , had basely left him in the lurch . She soon became interested in her work , for her emaciated purse grew stout , and the little hoard she was making to take Beth to the mountains next summer grew slowly but surely as the weeks passed . One thing disturbed her satisfaction , and that was that she did not tell them at home . She had a feeling that Father and Mother would not approve , and preferred to have her own way first , and beg pardon afterward . It was easy to keep her secret , for no name appeared with her stories . Mr. Dashwood had of course found it out very soon , but promised to be dumb , and for a wonder kept his word . She thought it would do her no harm , for she sincerely meant to write nothing of which she would be ashamed , and quieted all pricks of conscience by anticipations of the happy minute when she should show her earnings and laugh over her well-kept secret . But Mr. Dashwood rejected any but thrilling tales , and as thrills could not be produced except by harrowing up the souls of the readers , history and romance , land and sea , science and art , police records and lunatic asylums , had to be ransacked for the purpose . Jo soon found that her innocent experience had given her but few glimpses of the tragic world which underlies society , so regarding it in a business light , she set about supplying her deficiencies with characteristic energy . Eager to find material for stories , and bent on making them original in plot , if not masterly in execution , she searched newspapers for accidents , incidents , and crimes . She excited the suspicions of public librarians by asking for works on poisons . She studied faces in the street , and characters , good , bad , and indifferent , all about her . She delved in the dust of ancient times for facts or fictions so old that they were as good as new , and introduced herself to folly , sin , and misery , as well as her limited opportunities allowed .
She XXXXX she was prospering finely , but unconsciously she was beginning to desecrate some of the womanliest attributes of a woman 's character .
appeared approve asked departed felt keep kept put thinking thought