Having written and signed her letter, Florence addressed it, stamped it, and laid it by her desk.  She then took out some sheets of manuscript paper on which she was vainly endeavoring to sketch out a scheme for her essay on Heroism.  The conditions which attached to this essay were already neatly written out by Mrs. Clavering's directions, and were placed opposite to her on her desk: "The essay must contain not less than two thousand words.  It must be the unaided work of the competitor.  It must further be written without reference to books."