loved flattery. Through that means she got my composition in the first
place, pledged me to silence in the second place, and so confused my
moral perceptions that I really thought it praiseworthy to shelter her
from what I had suffered. However, without betrayal on my part, the
trick came to light through the very means she took to make concealment
sure. After compositions were read they were handed over to a certain
teacher for criticism. Miss ---- had copied mine, and returned to me the
original. I had not copied hers, so the two were in the same
handwriting--one with my name outside and one with Miss ----'s.

As I stood well in school, both for scholarship and behavior, my sudden
fall from grace occasioned no end of discussion. So, as soon as the
teacher discovered the two compositions in Miss ----'s writing, she came
to me to inquire how I got one of Miss ----'s compositions. She said,
"Where is yours that you wrote for that day?"

Taking it from my portfolio, I replied, "Here it is."

She then asked, "Did you copy it from her book?"

I replied, "No; I wrote it myself."

"Then why did you not read your own?"

"We agreed to change," said I.

"Did you know that Miss ---- had copied that from the book of another
young lady?"

"No, not until I was accused of doing it myself before the whole