`` Guess she does ! She knows just what folks like , and gets paid well for writing it . '' Here the lecture began , but Jo heard very little of it , for while Professor Sands was prosing away about Belzoni , Cheops , scarabei , and hieroglyphics , she was covertly taking down the address of the paper , and boldly resolving to try for the hundred-dollar prize offered in its columns for a sensational story . By the time the lecture ended and the audience awoke , she had built up a splendid fortune for herself -LRB- not the first founded on paper -RRB- , and was already deep in the concoction of her story , being unable to decide whether the duel should come before the elopement or after the murder . She said nothing of her plan at home , but fell to work next day , much to the disquiet of her mother , who always looked a little anxious when ` genius took to burning ' . Jo had never tried this style before , contenting herself with very mild romances for The Spread Eagle . Her experience and miscellaneous reading were of service now , for they gave her some idea of dramatic effect , and supplied plot , language , and costumes . Her story was as full of desperation and despair as her limited acquaintance with those uncomfortable emotions enabled her to make it , and having located it in Lisbon , she wound up with an earthquake , as a striking and appropriate denouement . The manuscript was privately dispatched , accompanied by a note , modestly saying that if the tale did n't get the prize , which the writer hardly dared expect , she would be very glad to receive any sum it might be considered worth . Six weeks is a long time to wait , and a still longer time for a girl to keep a secret , but Jo did both , and was just beginning to give up all hope of ever seeing her manuscript again , when a letter arrived which almost took her breath away , for on opening it , a check for a hundred dollars fell into her lap . For a minute she stared at it as if it had been a snake , then she read her letter and began to cry . If the amiable gentleman who wrote that kindly note could have known what intense happiness he was giving a fellow creature , I think he would devote his leisure hours , if he has any , to that amusement , for Jo valued the letter more than the money , because it was encouraging , and after years of effort it was so pleasant to find that she had learned to do something , though it was only to write a sensation story . A prouder young woman was seldom seen than she , when , having composed herself , she electrified the family by appearing before them with the letter in one hand , the check in the other , announcing that she had won the prize . Of course there was a great jubilee , and when the story came everyone read and praised it , though after her father had told her that the language was good , the romance fresh and hearty , and the tragedy quite thrilling , he shook his head , and said in his unworldly way ... `` You can do better than this , Jo . Aim at the highest , and never mind the money . '' `` I think the money is the best part of it . What will you do with such a fortune ? '' asked Amy , regarding the magic slip of paper with a reverential eye . `` Send Beth and Mother to the seaside for a month or two , '' answered Jo promptly . To the seaside they went , after much discussion , and though Beth did n't come home as plump and rosy as could be desired , she was much better , while Mrs. March declared she felt ten years younger .
So XXXXX was satisfied with the investment of her prize money , and fell to work with a cheery spirit , bent on earning more of those delightful checks .
Amy Cheops Eagle Jo concoction dollars earthquake first murder years