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Anne of Green Gables · Anne of Green Gables

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  Chapter one, Missus Rachel Lynde is surprised. Missus Rachel Lynde lived just where
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  the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and
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  ladies eardrops, and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in
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  the woods of the old Cuthbert Place. It was reputed to be an intricate
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  headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool
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  and cascade, but by the time it reached Lynde's hollow it was a quiet,
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  well conducted little stream. For not even a brook could run past Missus
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  Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum. It probably was conscious
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  that Missus Rachel was sitting at her window keeping a sharp eye on everything that
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  passed from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or
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  out of place, she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys
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  and wherefores thereof there are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it who
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  can attend closely to their neighbor's business by dint of neglecting their own, But
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  Missus Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns
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  and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife.
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  Her work was always done and well done. She ran the sewing circle,
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  helped run the Sunday School, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid
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  Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this, Missus Rachel found abundant
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  time to sit for hours at her kitchen window knitting cotton warp quilts. She
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  had knitted sixteen of them. As Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed
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  voices, and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow
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  and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied little triangular peninsula
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  jutting out into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with water on two sides of it,
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  anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that
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  hill road, and so run the unseen gauntlet of Missus Rachel's all seeing eye.
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  She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming
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  in at the window, warm and bright. The orchard on the slope below
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  the house was an a bridal flush of pinky white bloom, hummed over by
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  a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde, a meek little man whom Avonlea people
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  called Rachel Lynde's husband, was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field
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  beyond the barn, and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the
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  big red brookfield away over by green Gables. Missus Rachel knew that he ought
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  because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J.
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  Blair's store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next
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  afternoon. Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never
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  been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life. And yet here
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  was Matthew Cuthbert at half past three on the afternoon of a busy day,
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  placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill. Moreover, he wore a
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  white collar and his best suit of clothes, which was plain proof that he
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  was going out of Avonlea. And he had the buggy and the sorrel mare
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  which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. Now, where was Matthew
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  Cuthbert going? And why was he going there? Had it been any other
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  man in Avonlea, Missus Rachel, deftly putting this and that together might have
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  given a pretty good guess as to both questions. But Matthew so rarely went
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  from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him.
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  He was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or
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  to any place where he might have to talk. Matthew dressed up with a
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  white collar and driving in a buggy was something that didn't happen often. Missus
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  Rachel ponder, as she might, could make nothing of it, and her
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  afternoon's enjoyment was spoiled. I'll just step over to Green Gables after tea and
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  find out from Marilla where he's gone and why. The worthy woman finally concluded,
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  he doesn't generally go to town this time of year, and he never
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  visits. If he'd run out of turnip seed, he wouldn't dress up and
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  take the buggy to go for more. He wasn't driving fast enough to be
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  going for a doctor yet, something must have happened since last night to start
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  him off. I'm clean puzzled, that's what. And I won't know a
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  minute's peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out
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  of Avonlea. To day, Accordingly, after tea, Missus Rachel set out.
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  She had not far to go. The big rambling orchard embowered house where
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  the Cuthberts lived, was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from
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  Lynde's hollow. To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal
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  Further, Matthew Cuthbert's father, as shy and silent as his son after him,
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  had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without
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  actually retreating into the woods. When he founded his homestead, Green Gables was
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  built at the furthest edge of his cleared land, and there it was to
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  this day barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses
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  were so sociably situated. Missus Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a
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  place living at all. It's just staying, That's what she said, as
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  she stepped along the deep rutted grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes. It's
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  no wonder Matthew and Marilla are both a little odd living away back here by
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  themselves. Trees aren't much company, though dear knows if they were, there'd
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  be enough of them. I'd rather look at people to be sure they seem
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  contented enough. But then I suppose they're used to it. A body can
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  get used to anything, even to being hanged, As the irishman said.
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  With this, Missus Rachel stepped out of the lane into the back yard of
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  green Gables. Very green and neat and precise was that yard, set about
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  on one side with great patriarchal willows and the other with prim lombardies. Not
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  a stray stick nor stone was to be seen, for Missus Rachel would have
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  seen it if there had been. Privately, she was of the opinion that
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  Marilla Cuthbert swept that yard over as often as she swept her house. One
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  could have eaten a meal off the ground without overbrimming the proverbial peck of dirt.
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  Missus Rachel rapped smartly at the kitchen door, and stepped in when bidden
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  to do so. The kitchen at green Gables was a cheerful apartment, or
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  would have been cheerful if it had not been so painfully clean as to give
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  it something of the appearance of an unused parlor. Its windows looked east and
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  west. Through the west one, looking out on the back yard, came
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  a flood of mellow June sunlight. The east one, whence you got a
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  glimpse of the bloom white cherry trees in the left orchard, and nodding slender
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  birches down in the hollow by the brook, was greened over by a tangle
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  of vines. Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always
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  slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible, a
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  thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously. And here she
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  sat, now knitting, and the table behind her was laid for supper.
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  Missus Rachel, before she had fairly closed the door, had taken mental note
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  of everything that was on that table. There were three plates laid, so
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  that Marilla must be expecting someone home with Matthew to tea. But the dishes
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  were every day dishes, and there was only crab apple preserves and one kind
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  of cake, so that the expected company could not be any particular company.
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  Yet what of Matthew's white collar and the sorrel mare. Missus Rachel was getting
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  fairly dizzy with this unusual mystery about quiet unmisterious green Gables. Good evening,
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  Rachel, Marilla said briskly, This is a real fine evening, isn't it.
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  Won't you sit down? How are all your folks? Something that,
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  for lack of any other name, might be called friendship existed, and always
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  had existed between Marilla Cuthbert and Missus Rachel, in spite of, or perhaps
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  because of, their dissimilarity. Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with
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  angles and without curves. Her dark hair showed some gray streaks, and was
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  always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively
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  through it. She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience,
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  which she was. But there was a saving something about her mouth, which,
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  if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative
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  of a sense of humor. We're all pretty well, said missus Rachel.
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  I was kind of afraid you weren't, though, When I saw Matthew starting
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  off to day. I thought maybe he was going to the doctor's. Marilla's
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  lips twitched. Understandingly. She had expected missus Rachel up. She had known
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  that the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her
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  neighbor's curiosity. Oh no, I'm quite well, although I had a bad
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  headache yesterday. She said, Matthew went to bright River. We're getting a
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  little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia and he's coming on the train
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  to night. If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to
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  meet a kangaroo from Australia, missus Rachel could not have been more astonished.
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  She was actually stricken dumb For five seconds. It was unsupposable that Marilla was
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  making fun of her, but missus Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.
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  Are you in earnest, Marilla, she demanded when voice returned to her.
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  Yes, of course, said Marilla, as if getting boys from orphan asylums
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  in Nova Scotia were part of the usual spring work on any well regulated Avonlea
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  farm, instead of being an unheard of innovation. Missus Rachel felt that she
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  had received a severe mental jolt. She thought, in exclamation points, a
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  boy, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, of all people adopting a boy from an
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  orphan asylum. Well, the world was certainly turning upside down. She would
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  be surprised at nothing after this, nothing, What on earth puts such a
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  notion into your head? She demanded, disapprovingly. This had been done without
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  her advice being asked, and must perforce be disproved. Well, we've been
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  thinking about it for some time all winter, in fact, returned Marilla.
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  Missus Alexander Spencer was up here one day before Christmas, and she says she
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  was going to get a little girl from the asylum over in Hopeton in the
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  spring. Her cousin lives there, and Missus Spencer has visited her and knows
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  all about it. So Matthew and I have talked it over off and on
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  ever since we thought we'd get a boy. Matthew is getting up in years,
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  you know, he's sixty, and he isn't so spry as he once
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  was. His heart troubles him a good deal, and you know how desperate
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  hard it's got to be to get hired help. There's never anybody to be
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  had, but those stupid half grown little French boys. And as soon as
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  you do get one broke into your ways and taught something, he's up and
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  off to the lobster canneries or the States. At first Matthew suggested getting a
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  home boy, but I said no, flat to that. They may be
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  all right. I'm not saying they're not, but no London Street arabs for
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  me. I said, give me a native born. At least. There'll
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  be a risk no matter who we get, but I'll feel easier in my
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  mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian. So in
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  the end we decided to ask Missus Spencer to pick us out one when she
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  went over to get her little girl. We heard last week she was going,
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  so we sent her word by Richard Spencer's folks at Carmody to bring us
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  a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven. We decided that would
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  be the best stage. Old enough to be of some use in doing chores
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  right off, and young enough to be trained up proper. We mean to
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  give him a good home and schooling. We had a telegram from Missus Alexander
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  Spencer today. The mailman brought it from the station saying they were coming on
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  the five thirty train tonight. So Matthew went to Bright River to meet him.
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  Missus Spencer will drop him off there. Of course, she goes on
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  to White Sands Station herself. Missus Rachel prided herself on always speaking her mind.
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  She proceeded to speak it now, having adjusted her mental attitude to this
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  amazing piece of news. Well, Marilla, I'll I'll just tell you plain
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  that I think you're doing a mighty foolish thing, a risky thing, that's
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  what. You don't know what you're getting. You're bringing a strange child into
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  your house and home, and you don't know a single thing about him,
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  nor what his disposition is like, nor what sort of parents he had,
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  nor how he's likely to turn out. Why it was only last week I
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  read in the paper how a man and his wife up west of the island
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  took a boy out of an orphan asylum and he set fire to the house
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  at night, set it on purpose, Marilla, and nearly burnt them to
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  a crisp in their beds. And I know another case where an adopted boy
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  used to suck the eggs they couldn't break him of it. If you had
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  asked my advice in the matter, which you didn't do, Marilla, I'd
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  have said, for mercy's sake, not to think of such a thing.
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  That's what this job's comforting. Seemed neither to offend nor to alarm Marilla.
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  She knitted steadily on. I don't deny there's something in what you say,
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  Rachel. I've had some qualms myself, but Matthew was terrible set on it.
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  I could see that, so I gave in. It's so seldom Matthew
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  sets his mind on anything that when he does, I always feel it's my
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  duty to give in. And as for the risk, there's risks in pretty
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  near everything a body does in this world. There's risks in people's having children
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  of their own. If it comes to that, they don't always turn out
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  well. And then Nova Scotia is right close to the island. It isn't
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  as if we were getting him from England or the States. He can't be
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  much different from ourselves. Well, I hope it will turn out all right,
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  said missus Rachel, in a tone that plainly indicated her painful doubts.
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  Only don't say I didn't warn you if he burns green gables down or puts
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  strychnine in the well. I heard of a case over in New Brunswick where
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  an orphan asylum child did that and the whole family died in fearful agonies.
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  Only it was a girl in that instance. Well, we're not getting a
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  girl, said Marilla, as if poisoning wells were a purely feminine accomplishment and
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  not to be dreaded in the case of a boy, I'd never dream of
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  taking a girl to bring up. I wonder at Missus Alexander Spencer for doing
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  it, but there she wouldn't shrink from adopting a whole orphan asylum if she
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  took it into her head. Missus Rachel would have liked to stay until Matthew
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  came home with his imported orphan, but reflect that it would be a good
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  two hours at least before his arrival, she concluded to go up the road
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  to Robert Bell's and tell the news. It would certainly make a sensation second
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  to none, and Missus Rachel dearly loved to make a sensation, so she
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  took herself away, somewhat to Marilla's relief, for the latter felt her doubts
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  and fears reviving under the influence of Missus Rachel's pessimism. Well, of all
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  things that ever were or will be, ejaculated Missus Rachel when she was safely
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  out in the lane. It does really seem as if I must be dreaming.
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  Well, I'm sorry for that poor young one, And no mistake,
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  Matthew and Marilla don't know anything about children, and they'll expect him to be
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  wiser and steadier than his own grandfather, if so Beasy's ever had a grandfather,
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  which is doubtful. It seems uncanny to think of a child at Green
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  Gables. Somehow, there's never been one there, For Matthew and Marilla were
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  grown up when the new house was built, if they ever were children,
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  which is hard to believe when one looks at them. I wouldn't be in
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  that orphan's shoes for anything, my But I pity him. That's what so
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  said Missus Rachel to the wild Rose bushes, out of the full of her
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  heart. But if she could have seen the child who was waiting patiently at
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  the Bright River station at that very moment, her pity would have been still
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  deeper and more profound. End of chapter one, Chapter two, Matthew Cuthbert
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  is surprised. Matthew Cuthbert and the sorrel Mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles
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  to Bright River. It was a pretty road, running along between snug farmsteads,
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  with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through,
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  or a hollow where wild plums hung out their filmy bloom. The air was
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  sweet with the breath of many apple orchards, and the meadows sloped away in
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  the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple, while the little birds sang
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  as if it were the one day of summer in all the year. Matthew
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  enjoyed the drive after his own fashion, except during the moments when he met
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  women and had to nod to them. For in Prince Edward Island you are
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  supposed to nod to all and sundry you meet on the road, whether you
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  know them or not. Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and missus Rachel.
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  He had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him.
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  He may have been quite right in thinking so, for he was an odd
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  looking personage with an ungainly figure and long iron gray hair that touched his stooping
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  shoulders, and a full, soft brown beard, which he had worn ever
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  since he was twenty. In fact, he had looked at twenty very much
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  as he looked at sixty, lacking a little of the grayness. When he
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  reached Bright River, there was no sign of any train. He thought he
• 15:28
  was too early, so he tied his horse in the yard of the small
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  Bright River hotel and went over to the station house. The long platform was
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  almost deserted, the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting
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  on a pile of shingles at the extreme end. Matthew, barely noticing that
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  it was a girl, sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at
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  her. Had he looked, he could hardly have failed to notice the tense,
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  rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression. She was sitting there waiting
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  for something or somebody, and since sitting and waiting was the only thing to
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  do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.
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  Matthew encountered the station master locking up the ticket office preparatory to going home for
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  supper, and asked him if the five thirty train would soon be along.
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  The five thirty train has been in and gone half an hour ago, answered
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  that brisk official. But there was a passenger dropped off for you, a
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  little girl. She's sitting out there on the shingles. I asked her to
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  go into the ladies waiting room, but she informed me gravely that she preferred
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  to stay outside. There was more scope for the imagination. She said.
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  She's a case. I should say. I'm not expecting a girl, said
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  Matthew blankly. It's a boy I've come for. He should be here.
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  Missus Alexander Spencer was to bring him over from Nova Scotia for me. The
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  station master whistled, guess there's some mistake, he said. Missus Spencer came
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  off the train with that girl and gave her into my charge. Said you
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  and your sister were adopting her from an orphan asylum, and that you would
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  be along for her presently. That's all I know about it, and I
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  haven't got any more orphans concealed hereabouts. I don't understand, said Matthew,
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  helplessly, wishing that Marilla was at hand to cope with the situation. Well,
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  you'd better question, the girl, said the station master carelessly. I
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  dare say she'll be able to explain. She's got a tongue of her own.
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  That's certain. Maybe they were out of boys of the brand you wanted.
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  He walked jauntily away, being hungry, and the unfortunate Matthew was left
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  to do that which was harder for him than bearding a lion in its den.
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  Walk up to a girl, a strange girl, an orphan girl,
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  and demand of her why she wasn't a boy. Matthew groaned in spirit as
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  he turned about and shuffled gently down the platform towards her. She had been
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  watching him ever since he had passed her, and she had her eyes on
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  him. Now. Matthew was not looking at her, and he would not
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  have seen what she was really like if he had been. But an ordinary
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  observer would have seen this. A child of about eleven garbed in a very
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  short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish gray wincey. She wore
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  a faded brown sailor hat, and beneath the extending down her back, were
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  two braids of very thick, decidedly red hair. Her face was small,
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  white and thin, also much freckled. Her mouth was large, and so
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  were her eyes, which looked green in some lights and moods, and gray
• 18:14
  in others. So far the ordinary observer. An extraordinary observer might have seen
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  that the chin was very pointed and pronounced, that the big eyes were full
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  of spirit and vivacity, that the mouth was sweet lipped and expressive, that
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  the forehead was broad and full. In short, our discerning extraordinary observer might
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  have concluded that no commonplace soul inhabited the body of this stray woman, child
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  of whom shy Matthew Cuthbert was so ludicrously afraid. Matthew, however, was
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  spared the ordeal of speaking first, for as soon as she concluded that he
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  was coming to her, she stood up, grasping with one thin brown hand
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  the handle of a shabby, old fashioned carpet bag. The other she held
• 18:55
  out to him. I suppose you are, mister Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables,
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  she said, in a peculiar, clear, sweet voice. I am
• 19:00
  very glad to see you. I was beginning to be afraid you weren't coming
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  for me, and I was imagining all the things that might have happened to
• 19:07
  prevent you. I had made up my mind that if you didn't come for
• 19:10
  me tonight, I'd go down the track to that big wild cherry tree at
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  the bend and climb up into it and stay all night. I wouldn't be
• 19:17
  a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry
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  tree, all white with bloom in the moonshine. Don't you think you could
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  imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn't you? And I was quite
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  sure you would come for me in the morning if you didn't to night.
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  Matthew had taken the scrawny little hand awkwardly in his Then and there he decided
• 19:34
  what to do. He could not tell this child with the glowing eyes that
• 19:38
  there had been a mistake. He would take her home and let Marilla do
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  that. She couldn't be left at bright River anyhow, no matter what mistake
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  had been made, so all questions and explanations might as well be deferred until
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  he was safely back at green Gables. I'm sorry I was late, he
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  said, shyly. Come along. The horse is over in the yard.
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  Give me your bag. Oh, I can carry it, the child responded
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  cheerfully. It isn't heavy. I've got all my worldly goods in it,
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  but it isn't heavy, and if it isn't carried in just a certain way,
• 20:07
  the handle pulls out, So I'd better keep it because I know the
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  exact knack of it. It's an extremely old carpet bag. Oh, I'm
• 20:14
  very glad you've come, even if it would have been nice to sleep in
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  a wild cherry tree. We've got to drive a long piece, haven't we.
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  Missus Spencer said it was eight miles. I'm glad because I love driving.
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  Oh, it seems so wonderful that I'm going to live with you and
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  belong to you. I've never belonged to anybody, not really. But the
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  asylum was the worst. I've only been in it four months, but that
• 20:33
  was enough. I don't suppose you ever were an orphan in an asylum,
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  so you can't possibly understand what it is like. It's worse than anything you
• 20:40
  can imagine. Missus Spencer said it was wicked of me to talk like that,
• 20:42
  but I didn't mean to be wicked. It's so easy to be wicked
• 20:45
  without knowing, isn't it. They were good, you know, the asylum
• 20:49
  people, But there is so little scope for the imagination in an asylum,
• 20:53
  only just in the other orphans, it was pretty interesting to imagine things about
• 20:57
  them, to imagine that perhaps the girl who sat next to you was really
• 21:00
  the daughter of a belted earl who had been stolen away from her parents in
• 21:03
  her infancy by a cruel nurse who died before she could confess. I used
• 21:07
  to lie awake at nights and imagine things like that because I didn't have time
• 21:11
  in the day. I guess that's why I'm so thin. I am dreadful
• 21:15
  thin, ain't I There isn't a pig on my bones. I do love
• 21:18
  to imagine I'm nice and plump, with dimples in my elbows. With this,
• 21:22
  Matthew's companion stopped talking, partly because she was out of breath and partly
• 21:26
  because they had reached the buggy. Not another word did she say until they
• 21:30
  had left the village and were driving down a steep little hill, the road,
• 21:33
  part of which had been cut so deeply into the soft soil that the
• 21:37
  banks, fringed with blooming wild cherry trees and slim white birches, were several
• 21:41
  feet above their heads. The child put out her hand and broke off a
• 21:45
  branch of wild plum that brushed against the side of the buggy. Isn't that
• 21:48
  beautiful? What did that tree leaning out from the bank, all white and
• 21:52
  lacey, make you think of? She asked. Well, now I dunno,
• 21:56
  said Matthew. Why a bride. Of course, a bride all in
• 22:00
  white with a lovely misty veil. I've never seen one, but I can
• 22:04
  imagine what she would look like. I don't ever expect to be a bride
• 22:08
  myself. I'm so homely. Nobody will ever want to marry me, unless
• 22:12
  it might be a foreign missionary. I suppose a foreign missionary mightn't be very
• 22:15
  particular, but I do hope that some day I shall have a white dress.
• 22:19
  That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss. I just love pretty clothes,
• 22:23
  and I've never had a pretty dress in my life that I can remember.
• 22:26
  But of course it's all the more to look forward to, isn't it.
• 22:30
  And then I can imagine that I'm dressed gorgeously. This morning, when
• 22:33
  I left the asylum, I felt so ashamed because I had to wear this
• 22:37
  horrid old wincey dress. All the orphans had to wear them. You know,
• 22:40
  A merchant in Hopeton last winter donated three hundred yards of wincey to the
• 22:44
  asylum. Some people said it was because he couldn't sell it, but I'd
• 22:47
  rather believe that it was out of the kindness of his heart, wouldn't you.
• 22:49
  When we got on the train, I felt as if everybody must be
• 22:52
  looking at me and pitying me. But I just went to work and imagined
• 22:56
  that I had on the most beautiful pale blue silk dress, because when you
• 23:00
  are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile, and a big hat,
• 23:04
  all flowers and nodding plumes, and a gold watch and kid gloves and
• 23:08
  boots. I felt cheered up right away, and I enjoyed my trip to
• 23:11
  the island with all my might. I wasn't a bit sick coming over in
• 23:15
  the boat. Neither was Missus Spencer, although she generally is. She said
• 23:19
  she hadn't time to get sick watching to see that I didn't fall overboard.
• 23:22
  She said she never saw the beat of me for prowling about, but if
• 23:26
  it kept her from being seasick, it's a mercy. I did prowl,
• 23:27
  isn't it? And I wanted to see everything that was to be seen on
• 23:30
  that boat because I didn't know whether I'd ever have another opportunity. Oh,
• 23:36
  there are a lot more cherry trees, all in bloom. This island is
• 23:40
  the bloomiest place. I just love it already, and I'm so glad I'm
• 23:42
  going to live here. I've always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest
• 23:45
  place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here,
• 23:48
  but I never really expected I would. It's delightful when your imaginations come true,
• 23:53
  isn't it. But those red roads are so funny. When we got
• 23:56
  into the train at Charlottetown and the red roads began to flash past, I
• 24:00
  asked missus Spencer what made them read? And she said she didn't know,
• 24:03
  and for pity's sake, not to ask her any more questions, She said,
• 24:06
  I must have asked her a thousand already. I suppose I had too.
• 24:08
  But how are you going to find out about things if you don't ask
• 24:11
  questions? And what does make the roads read? Well? Now, I
• 24:17
  dunno, said Matthew. Well, that is one of the things to find
• 24:19
  out sometime, isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to
• 24:23
  find out? About it just makes me feel glad to be alive. It's
• 24:26
  such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all
• 24:30
  about everything, would it. There'd be no scope for the imagination, then,
• 24:33
  would there? But am I talking too much? People are always telling
• 24:37
  me I do? Would you rather I didn't talk? If you say so,
• 24:40
  I'll stop. I can stop when I make up my mind to it.
• 24:42
  Although it's difficult. Matthew, much to his own surprise, was enjoying
• 24:48
  himself Like most quiet folks. He liked talkative people when they were willing to
• 24:52
  do the talking themselves, and did not expect him to keep up his end
• 24:55
  of it. But he had never expected to enjoy the society of a little
• 24:57
  girl. Women were enough in all conscience, but little girls were worse.
• 25:03
  He detested the way they had of sidling past him timidly with sidewise glances,
• 25:07
  as if they expected him to gobble them up at a mouthful if they ventured
• 25:10
  to say a word. That was the avonlea type of well bred little girl.
• 25:15
  But this freckled wish was very different, and although he found it rather
• 25:18
  difficult for his slower intelligence to keep up with her brisk mental processes. He
• 25:22
  thought that he kind of liked her chatter, so he said, as shyly
• 25:26
  as usual. Oh, you can talk as much as you like. I
• 25:30
  don't mind. Oh I'm so glad I know you and I are going to
• 25:34
  get along together. Fine. It's such a relief to talk when one wants
• 25:38
  to and not be told that children should be seen and not heard. I've
• 25:41
  had that said to me a million times. If I have once, and
• 25:45
  people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big
• 25:48
  ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven't you.
• 25:52
  Well, now that seems reasonable, said Matthew. Missus Spencer said that my
• 25:57
  tongue must be hung in the middle, but it isn't. It's firmly fastened
• 26:00
  at one end. Missus Spencer said, your place was named green Gables.
• 26:04
  I asked her all about it, and she said they were trees all around
• 26:07
  it. I was gladder than ever. I just loved trees. And there
• 26:11
  weren't any at all about the asylum, only a few poor weeny teeny things
• 26:15
  out in front, with little whitewashed cagy things about them. They just looked
• 26:18
  like orphans themselves. Those trees did it? Used to make me want to
• 26:22
  cry to look at them. I used to say to them, Oh,
• 26:25
  you poor little things. If you were out in the great big woods,
• 26:27
  with other trees all around you, and little mosses and june bells growing over
• 26:30
  your roots, and a brook not far away, and birds singing in your
• 26:33
  branches, you could grow, couldn't you. But you can't where you are.
• 26:37
  I know just exactly how you feel, little trees. I felt sorry
• 26:41
  to leave them behind this morning. You do get so attached to things like
• 26:45
  that, don't you. Is there a brook anywhere near Green Gables? I
• 26:48
  forgot to ask missus Spencer that. Well, now, yes, there's one
• 26:52
  right below the house. Fancy. It's always been one of my dreams to
• 26:56
  live near a brook. I never expected I would. Dreams don't often come
• 27:00
  true, do they. Wouldn't it be nice if they did? But just
• 27:04
  now I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy. I can't feel exactly perfectly happy,
• 27:08
  because well, what color would you call this? She twitched one of her
• 27:15
  long, glossy braids over her thin shoulder and held it up before Matthew's eyes.
• 27:19
  Matthew was not used to deciding on the tints of ladies tresses. But
• 27:22
  in this case there couldn't be much doubt. It's red, ain't it?
• 27:26
  He said? The girl let the braid drop back with a sigh that seemed
• 27:30
  to come from her very toes, and to exhale forth all the sorrows of
• 27:34
  the ages. Yes, it's red, she said resignedly. Now you see
• 27:40
  why I can't be perfectly happy. Nobody could who has red hair. I
• 27:44
  don't mind the other things so much, the freckles and the green eyes and
• 27:48
  my skinniness. I can imagine them away. I can imagine I have a
• 27:52
  beautiful rose leaf complexion and lovely starry violet eyes. But I cannot imagine that
• 27:57
  red hair away. I do my bed. I think to myself, now
• 28:02
  my hair is a glorious black, black as the raven's wing. But all
• 28:06
  the time I know it is just plain red, and it breaks my heart.
• 28:11
  It will be my life long sorrow. I read of a girl once
• 28:14
  in a novel who had a life long sorrow. But it wasn't red hair.
• 28:17
  Her hair was pure gold, rippling back from her alabaster brow. What
• 28:21
  is an alabaster brow? I never could find out. Can you tell me?
• 28:25
  Well? Now I'm afraid I can't said Matthew, who was getting a
• 28:27
  little dizzy. He felt as he had once felt in his rash youth when
• 28:32
  another boy had enticed him on the merry go round at a picnic. Well,
• 28:34
  whatever it was, it must have been something nice, because she was
• 28:37
  divinely beautiful. Have you ever imagined what it must feel like to be divinely
• 28:41
  beautiful? Well, now, no, I haven't, confessed, Matthew ingenuously,
• 28:47
  I have often Which would you rather be if you had the choice?
• 28:51
  Divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good? Well, now, uh,
• 28:57
  I don't know exactly. Neither do I. I can never decide, but
• 29:03
  it doesn't make much real difference, for it isn't likely I'll ever be either.
• 29:06
  It's certain I'll never be angelically good. Missus Spencer says, Oh,
• 29:10
  mister Cuthbert, Oh, mister Cuthbert, Oh, mister Cuthbert. That was
• 29:15
  not what Missus Spencer had said. Neither had the child tumbled out of the
• 29:18
  buggy, nor had Matthew done anything astonishing. They had simply rounded a curve
• 29:23
  in the road and found themselves in the avenue. The avenue, so called
• 29:29
  by the Newbridge people, was a stretch of road four or five hundred yards
• 29:32
  long, completely arched over with huge, wide, spreading apple trees planted years
• 29:37
  ago by an eccentric old farmer. Overhead was one long canopy of snowy,
• 29:41
  fragrant bloom. Below the boughs, the air was full of a purple twilight,
• 29:47
  and far ahead a glimpse of painted sunset sky shone like a great rose
• 29:52
  window at the end of a cathedral aisle. Its beauty seemed to strike the
• 29:56
  child dumb. She leaned back in the buggy, her thin head clasped before
• 30:00
  her, her face lifted rapturously to the white splendor above. Even when they
• 30:04
  had passed out and were driving down the long sloped to Newbridge, she never
• 30:08
  moved or spoke. Still With rapt face, she gazed afar into the sunset
• 30:12
  west, with eyes that saw visions trooping splendidly across that glowing background. Through
• 30:18
  Newbridge, a bustling little village where dogs barked at them, and small boys
• 30:22
  hooted, and curious faces peered from the windows. They drove still in silence.
• 30:27
  When three more miles had dropped away behind them, the child had not
• 30:30
  spoken. She could keep silence. It was evident as energetically as she could
• 30:34
  talk. I guess you're feeling pretty tired and hungry, Matthew ventured to say,
• 30:41
  at last, accounting for her long visitation of dumbness, with the only
• 30:44
  reason he could think of. But we haven't very far to go now,
• 30:48
  only another mile. She came out of her reverie with a deep sigh and
• 30:52
  looked at him with the dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wandering afar
• 30:56
  starled. Oh, mister Cuthbert, she whispered, that place we came through,
• 31:02
  that white place? What was it? Well, now you must mean
• 31:06
  the avenue, said Matthew, after a few moments profound reflection. It is
• 31:11
  a kind of pretty place. Pretty. Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right
• 31:15
  word to use, nor beautiful either. They don't go far enough. Oh,
• 31:19
  it was wonderful, wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that
• 31:23
  couldn't be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfies me. Here she put
• 31:30
  one hand on her breast. It made a queer, funny ache, and
• 31:33
  yet it was a pleasant ache. Did you ever have an ache like that,
• 31:36
  mister Cuthbert? Well, now I just can't recollect that. I ever
• 31:41
  had. I have it lots of times whenever I see anything royally beautiful.
• 31:47
  But they shouldn't call that lovely place the Avenue. There's no meaning in a
• 31:51
  name like that. They should call it, let me see, the White
• 31:56
  Way of Delight. Isn't that a nice imaginative name. When I don't like
• 32:00
  the name of a place or a person, I always imagine a new one
• 32:02
  and always think of them. So there was a girl at the asylum whose
• 32:07
  name was Hepziba Jenkins, but I always imagined her as Rosalia de Vere.
• 32:10
  Other people may call that place the Avenue, but I shall always call it
• 32:15
  the White Way of Delight. Have we really only another mile to go before
• 32:19
  we get home? I'm glad and I'm sorry. I'm sorry because this drive
• 32:22
  has been so pleasant, and I'm always sorry when pleasant things end. Still,
• 32:27
  something still pleasanter may come after, but you can never be sure,
• 32:30
  and it's so often the case that it isn't pleasanter. That has been my
• 32:35
  experience anyhow. But I'm glad to think of getting home. You see,
• 32:38
  I've never had a real home since I can remember. It gives me that
• 32:42
  pleasant ache again just to think of coming home. To a really truly home.
• 32:45
  Oh, isn't that pretty? They had driven over the crest of a
• 32:49
  hill. Below them was a pond, looking almost like a river. So
• 32:52
  long and winding was it. A bridge spanned it midway, and from there
• 32:57
  to its lower end, where an amber hued belt sand hills shut it in
• 33:00
  from the dark blue gulf. Beyond the water was a glory of many shifting
• 33:05
  hues, the most spiritual shadings of crocus and rose and ethereal green, with
• 33:09
  other elusive tintings for which no name has ever been found. Above the bridge,
• 33:15
  the pond ran up into fringing groves of fir and maple and lay,
• 33:19
  all darkly translucent in their wavering shadows. Here and there, a wild plum
• 33:23
  leaned out from the bank, like a white clad girl tiptoeing to her own
• 33:28
  reflection. From the marsh at the head of the pond came the clear,
• 33:31
  mournfully sweet chorus of the frogs. There was a little gray house peering around
• 33:37
  a white apple orchard on a slope beyond, and although it was not yet
• 33:39
  quite dark, a light was shining from one of its windows. That's Berry's
• 33:45
  pond, said Matthew oh I don't like that name either, I shall call
• 33:49
  it let me see the Lake of Shining Waters. Yes, that is the
• 33:53
  right name for it. I know because of the thrill. When I hit
• 33:57
  on a name that suits exactly, it gives me a th Do things ever
• 34:00
  give you a thrill? Matthew ruminated, Well, now, yes, it
• 34:07
  always kind of gives me a thrill to see them ugly white grubs that spade
• 34:10
  up in the cucumber beds. I hate the look of them. Oh,
• 34:15
  I don't think that can be exactly the same kind of a thrill. Do
• 34:19
  you think it can? There doesn't seem to be much connection between grubs and
• 34:22
  Lakes of Shining Waters? Does there? But why do other people call it
• 34:27
  Berry's Pond? I reckon because mister Barry lives up there in that house orchard
• 34:31
  slopes the name of his place. If it wasn't for that big bush behind
• 34:36
  it, you could see green gables from here. But we have to go
• 34:38
  over the bridge and round by the road, so it's near half a mile
• 34:42
  further. Has mister Barry any little girls? Well, not so very little
• 34:46
  either about my size. He's got one about eleven. Her name is Diana,
• 34:52
  Oh, with a long indrawing of breath. What a perfectly lovely name.
• 34:59
  Well, now, I dunno, there's something dreadful, heathenish about it.
• 35:02
  Seems to me. I'd rather Jane or Mary or some sensible name like
• 35:07
  that. But when Diana was born, there was a schoolmaster boarding there,
• 35:10
  and they gave him the naming of her, and he called her Diana.
• 35:15
  I wish there had been a schoolmaster like that around when I was born.
• 35:19
  Then, Oh, here we are at the bridge. I'm going to shut
• 35:22
  my eyes tight. I'm always afraid going over bridges. I can't help imagining
• 35:25
  that perhaps just as we get to the middle, they'll crumple up like a
• 35:29
  jackknife and nip us. So I shut my eyes, but I always have
• 35:32
  to open them for all when I think we're getting near the middle, because
• 35:36
  you see, if the bridge did crumple up, i'd want to see it
• 35:38
  crumple. What a jolly rumble it makes. I always like the rumble part
• 35:44
  of it, isn't it splendid? There are so many things to like in
• 35:45
  this world there whereover now, I'll look back. Good night, dear Lake
• 35:52
  of Shining Waters. I always say good night to the things I love,
• 35:54
  just as I would to people. I think they like it. That water
• 35:59
  looks as if it were sma at me. When they had driven up the
• 36:01
  further hill and around a corner, Matthew said, we're pretty near home.
• 36:06
  Now, that's green gables over. Oh, don't tell me, she interrupted,
• 36:08
  breathlessly, catching at his partially raised arm and shutting her eyes that she
• 36:13
  might not see his gesture. Let me guess. I'm sure, I'll guess
• 36:15
  right. She opened her eyes and looked about her. They were on the
• 36:20
  crest of a hill. The sun had set some time since, but the
• 36:22
  landscape was still clear in the mellow after light. To the west, a
• 36:27
  dark church spire rose up against a marrigold sky. Below was a little valley,
• 36:31
  and beyond the long, gently rising slope, with snug farmsteads scattered along
• 36:36
  it. From one to another, the child's eyes darted, eager and wistful.
• 36:40
  At last they lingered on one away to the left, far back from
• 36:44
  the road, dimly white with blossoming trees in the twilight of the surrounding woods.
• 36:49
  Over it, in the stainless southwest sky, a great crystal white star
• 36:52
  was shining like a lamp of guidance and promise. That's it, isn't it,
• 36:59
  she said, pointing to Matthew, slapped the reins on the sorrel's back
• 37:01
  delightedly. Well, now you guessed it, but I reckon. Missus Spencer
• 37:07
  described it so as you could tell. No, she didn't, really she
• 37:10
  didn't. All she said might just as well have been about most of those
• 37:14
  other places. I hadn't any real idea what it looked like, but just
• 37:17
  as soon as I saw it, I felt it was home. Oh,
• 37:21
  it seems as if I must be in a dream. Do you know my
• 37:24
  arm must be black and blue from the elbow up, for I've pinched myself
• 37:28
  so many times to day. Every little while, a horrible sickening feeling would
• 37:30
  come over me, and I'd be so afraid it was all a dream.
• 37:34
  Then I'd pinch myself to see if it was real, until suddenly I remembered
• 37:37
  that even supposing it was only a dream, I'd better go on dreaming as
• 37:39
  long as I could, so I stopped pinching. But it is real,
• 37:44
  and we're nearly home. With a sigh of rapture, she relapsed into silence.
• 37:49
  Matthew stirred uneasily. He felt glad that it would be Marilla and not
• 37:52
  he who would have to tell this waif of the world that the home she
• 37:55
  longed for was not to be hers after all. They drove over Lynde's Hollow,
• 38:00
  where it was already quite dark, but not so dark that missus Rachel
• 38:04
  could not see them from her window vantage, and up the hill and into
• 38:07
  the long lane of green gables. By the time they arrived at the house,
• 38:12
  Matthew was shrinking from the approaching revelation with an energy he did not understand.
• 38:16
  It was not of Marilla or himself. He was thinking of the trouble
• 38:20
  this mistake was probably going to make for them, but of the child's disappointment.
• 38:24
  When he thought of that rapid light being quenched in her eyes, he
• 38:28
  had an uncomfortable feeling that he was going to assist at murdering something, much
• 38:32
  the same feeling that came over him when he had to kill a lamb or
• 38:36
  calf or any other innocent little creature. The yard was quite dark as they
• 38:39
  turned into it, and the poplar leaves were rustling silkily all around it.
• 38:45
  Listen to the trees talking in their sleep, she whispered as he lifted her
• 38:47
  to the ground, what nice dreams they must have. Then, holding tightly
• 38:52
  to the carpet bag which contained all her worldly goods, she followed him into
• 38:57
  the house. End of Chapter two. Chapter three, Marilla Cuthbert is surprised.
• 39:05
  Marilla came briskly forward as Matthew opened the door, but when her eyes
• 39:07
  fell on the odd little figure in the stiff, ugly dress, with the
• 39:10
  long braids of red hair and the eager, luminous eyes, she stopped short
• 39:15
  in amazement. Matthew Cuthbert, Who's that? She ejaculated. Where's the boy?
• 39:20
  There wasn't any boy, said Matthew wretchedly. There was only her.
• 39:23
  He nodded at the child, remembering that he had never even asked her name.
• 39:28
  No boy, but there must have been a boy, insisted Marilla.
• 39:31
  We sent word to missus Spencer to bring a boy. Well she didn't.
• 39:35
  She brought her. I asked the station master, and I had to bring
• 39:38
  her home. She couldn't be left there, no matter where the mistake had
• 39:40
  come in. Well, this is a pretty piece of business, ejaculated Marilla.
• 39:45
  During this dialog, the child had remained silent, her eyes roving from
• 39:50
  one to the other, all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly,
• 39:53
  she seemed to grasp the full meaning of what had been said. Dropping
• 39:57
  her precious carpet bag, she sprang forward a stead and clasped her hands.
• 40:00
  You don't want me, she cried. You don't want me because I'm not
• 40:04
  a boy. I might have expected it. Nobody ever did want me.
• 40:07
  I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have
• 40:10
  known nobody really did want me. Oh what shall I do? I'm going
• 40:15
  to burst into tears. Burst into tears she did, sitting down on a
• 40:20
  chair by the table, flinging her arms out upon it and burying her face
• 40:22
  in them. She proceeded to cry stormily. Marilla and Matthew looked at each
• 40:27
  other deprecatingly across the stove. Neither of them knew what to say or do.
• 40:31
  Finally, Marilla stepped lamely into the breach. Well, well, there's
• 40:36
  no need to cry so about it. Yes, there is need. The
• 40:39
  child raised her head quickly, revealing a tear stained face and trembling lips.
• 40:44
  You would cry too, if you were an orphan and had come to a
• 40:46
  place you thought was going to be home and found that they didn't want you
• 40:50
  because you weren't a boy. Oh, this is the most tragical thing that
• 40:52
  has ever happened to me. Something like a reluctant smile, rather rusty from
• 40:59
  long day use, mellowed Marilla's grim expression. Well, don't cry any more.
• 41:05
  We're not going to turn you out of doors tonight. You'll have to
• 41:07
  stay here until we investigate this affair. What's your name? The child hesitated
• 41:12
  for a moment. Will you please call me Cordelia? She said, eagerly,
• 41:16
  call you Cordelia. Is that your name? No, it's not exactly
• 41:22
  my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia. It's such a
• 41:25
  perfectly elegant name. I don't know what on earth you mean. If Cordelia
• 41:30
  isn't your name, what is Anne? Shirley reluctantly faltered forth, the owner
• 41:35
  of that name? But oh, please do call me Cordelia. It can't
• 41:37
  matter much what you call me if I'm only going to be here a little
• 41:40
  while, can it? And Anne is such an unromantic name. Unromantic Fiddlesticks,
• 41:45
  said the unsympathetic Marilla. Anne is a real good, plain, sensible
• 41:50
  name. You've no need to be ashamed of it. Oh, I'm not
• 41:52
  ashamed of it, explained Anne. Only I like Cordelia better. I've always
• 41:57
  imagined that my name was Cordelia, at least I always have of late years.
• 42:00
  When I was young, I used to imagine it was Geraldine. But
• 42:04
  I like Cordelia better now. But if you call me Anne, please call
• 42:07
  me Anne spelled with an E. What difference does it make how it's spelled,
• 42:12
  asked Marilla, with another rusty smile, as she picked up the teapot.
• 42:15
  Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer when
• 42:19
  you hear a name pronounced. Can't you always see it in your mind,
• 42:22
  just as if it was printed out? I can, And a N N
• 42:24
  looks dreadful, but a N N E looks so much more distinguished. If
• 42:29
  you'll only call me Anne spelled with an E, I shall try to reconcile
• 42:32
  myself to not being called Cordelia very well. Then, Anne spelled with an
• 42:37
  E. Can you tell us how this mistake came to be made? We
• 42:39
  send word to missus Spencer to bring us a boy. Were there no boys
• 42:43
  at the asylum? Oh? Yes, there was an abundance of them.
• 42:45
  But Missus Spencer said distinctly that you wanted a girl about eleven years old,
• 42:50
  and the matron said she thought I would do. You don't know how delighted
• 42:53
  I was. I couldn't sleep all last night for joy, Oh, she
• 42:59
  added reproachfully, turning to Matthew. Why didn't you tell me at this station
• 43:02
  that you didn't want me and leave me there? If I hadn't seen the
• 43:06
  white way of Delight in the Lake of Shining Waters, it wouldn't be so
• 43:08
  hard. What on earth does she mean, demanded Marilla, staring at Matthew.
• 43:14
  She she's just referring to some conversation we had on the road, said
• 43:17
  Matthew hastily. I'm going out to put the mare in. Marilla, have
• 43:22
  tea ready when I come back. Did missus Spencer bring anybody over besides you,
• 43:27
  continued Marilla. When Matthew had gone out, she brought Lily Jones for
• 43:30
  herself. Lily is only five years old, and she is very beautiful and
• 43:34
  has nut brown hair. If I was very beautiful and had nut brown hair,
• 43:37
  would you keep me? No, we want a boy to help Matthew
• 43:40
  on the farm. A girl would be of no use to us. Take
• 43:44
  off your hat, I'll lay it on your bag on the hall table.
• 43:47
  Anne took off her hat meekly. Matthew came back presently and they sat down
• 43:51
  to supper. But Anne could not eat in vain. She nibbled at the
• 43:54
  bread and butter and pecked at the crab apple preserve out of the little scalloped
• 43:58
  glass dish by her plate. She did not really make any headway at all.
• 44:01
  You're not eating anything, said Marilla, sharply, eyeing her as if
• 44:06
  it were a serious shortcoming. Anne sighed, I can't. I'm in the
• 44:10
  depths of despair. Can you eat when you're in the depths of despair?
• 44:15
  I have never been in the depths of despair, so I can't say,
• 44:17
  responded Marilla, weren't you well, did you ever try to imagine you were
• 44:23
  in the depths of despair? No? I didn't. Then I don't think
• 44:28
  you can understand what it's like. It's a very uncomfortable feeling. Indeed,
• 44:31
  when you try to eat, a lump comes right up in your throat and
• 44:35
  you can't swallow anything, not even if it was a chocolate caramel. I
• 44:38
  had one chocolate caramel once, two years ago, and it was simply delicious.
• 44:44
  I've often dreamed since then that I've had a lot of chocolate caramels,
• 44:46
  but I always wake up just when I'm going to eat them. I do
• 44:50
  hope you won't be offended because I can't eat. Everything is extremely nice,
• 44:53
  but still I cannot eat. I guess she's tired, said Matthew, who
• 44:58
  hadn't spoken since his return from the barn. Best put her to bed,
• 45:00
  Marilla. Marilla had been wondering where Anne should be put to bed. She
• 45:06
  had prepared a couch in the kitchen chamber for the desired and expected boy,
• 45:09
  but although it was neat and clean, it did not seem quite the thing
• 45:13
  to put a girl there. Somehow, but the spare room was out of
• 45:15
  the question for such a stray waif, so there remained only the east gable
• 45:20
  room. Marilla lighted a candle and told Anne to follow her, which Anne
• 45:23
  spiritlessly did, taking her hat and carpet bag from the hall table as she
• 45:28
  passed. The hall was fearsomely clean. The little gable chamber in which she
• 45:32
  presently found herself seemed still cleaner. Marilla set the candle on a three legged,
• 45:37
  three corner table and turned down the bedclothes. I suppose you have a
• 45:42
  nightgown, she questioned. Anne nodded, yes, I have two. The
• 45:45
  matron of the asylum made them for me. They're fearfully skimpy. There's never
• 45:50
  enough to go around in an asylum, so things are always skimpy, at
• 45:53
  least in a poor asylum like ours. I hate skimpy night dresses, but
• 45:58
  one can dream just as well in them as in lovely trailing ones with frills
• 46:01
  around the neck. That's one consolation. While undress as quick as you can
• 46:06
  and go to bed. I'll come back in a few minutes for the candle.
• 46:08
  I daren't trust you to put it out yourself. You'd likely set the
• 46:12
  place on fire. When Marilla had gone, Anne looked around her wistfully.
• 46:16
  The white washed walls were so painfully bare and staring that she thought they must
• 46:21
  ache over their own bareness. The floor was bare, too, except for
• 46:23
  a round braided mat in the middle, such as Anne had never seen before.
• 46:28
  In one corner was the bed, a high, old fashioned one with
• 46:31
  four dark, low turned posts. In the other corner was the aforesaid three
• 46:37
  corner table, adorned with a fat red velvet pincushion hard enough to turn the
• 46:39
  point of the most adventurous pin. Above it hung a little six by eight
• 46:45
  mirror. Midway between table and bed was the window with an icy white muslin
• 46:50
  frill over it, and opposite it was the washstand. The whole apartment was
• 46:53
  of a rigidity not to be described in words, but which sent it shiver
• 46:58
  to the very marrow of Anne's bone with a sob. She hastily discarded her
• 47:01
  garments, put on the skimpy nightgown, and sprang into bed, where she
• 47:06
  burrowed face downward into the pillow and pulled the clothes over her head. When
• 47:09
  Marilla came up for the light, various skimpy articles of raiment scattered, most
• 47:14
  untidily over the floor, and a certain tempestuous appearance of the bed were the
• 47:19
  only indications of any presents save her own. She deliberately picked up Anne's clothes,
• 47:24
  placed them neatly on a prim yellow chair, and, then taking up
• 47:28
  the candle, went over to the bed. Good night, she said,
• 47:31
  a little awkwardly, but not unkindly. Anne's white face and big eyes appeared
• 47:37
  over the bedclothes with a startling suddenness. How could you call it a good
• 47:40
  night when you know it must be the very worst night I've ever had,
• 47:44
  she said, reproachfully. Then she dived down into invisibility again. Marilla went
• 47:49
  slowly down to the kitchen and proceeded to wash the supper dishes. Matthew was
• 47:52
  smoking, a sure sign of perturbation of mind. He seldom smoked, for
• 47:58
  Marilla set her face against it as a f habit, but at certain times
• 48:01
  and seasons he felt driven to it. And then Marilla winked at the practice,
• 48:05
  realizing that a mere man must have some vent for his emotions. Well,
• 48:08
  this is a pretty kettle of fish, she said, wrathfully. This
• 48:13
  is what comes of sending word instead of going ourselves. Richard Spencer's folks have
• 48:16
  twisted that message. Somehow. One of us will have to drive over and
• 48:20
  see missus Spencer tomorrow. That's certain. This girl will have to be sent
• 48:23
  back to the asylum. Yes, I suppose so, said Matthew reluctantly.
• 48:29
  You suppose so, don't you know it. Well, now, she's a
• 48:34
  real nice little thing, Marilla. It's kind of a pity to send her
• 48:37
  back when she's so set on staying here. Matthew Cuthbert, you don't mean
• 48:40
  to say you think we ought to keep her. Marilla's astonishment could not have
• 48:45
  been greater if Matthew had expressed a predilection for standing on his head. Well,
• 48:49
  now, no, I suppose not, not exactly, stammered Matthew,
• 48:52
  uncomfortably driven into a corner for his precise meaning. I suppose we could hardly
• 48:59
  be expected to keep her. I should say not, what good would she
• 49:02
  be to us? We might be some good to her, said Matthew.
• 49:07
  Suddenly and unexpectedly. Matthew Cuthbert, I believe that child has bewitched you.
• 49:12
  I can see as plain as plain that you want to keep her. Well,
• 49:15
  now, she's a real interesting little thing, persisted Matthew. You should
• 49:20
  have heard her talk come in from the station. Oh she can talk fast
• 49:23
  enough. I saw that at once. It's nothing in her favor either.
• 49:28
  I don't like children who have so much to say. I don't want an
• 49:30
  orphan girl. And if I did, she isn't the style i'd pick out.
• 49:34
  There's something I don't understand about her. No, she's got to be
• 49:37
  despatched straightway back to where she came from. I could hire a French boy
• 49:42
  to help me, said Matthew, and she'd be company for you. I'm
• 49:45
  not suffering for company, said Marilla shortly. And I'm not going to keep
• 49:49
  her well now, it's just as you say, of course, Marilla,
• 49:52
  said Matthew, rising and putting his pipe away. I'm going to bed.
• 49:58
  To bed, went Matthew, and to bed. When she had put her
• 50:00
  dishes away, went Marilla, frowning most resolutely, and upstairs in the east
• 50:05
  gable, a lonely heart, hungry, friendless child cried herself to sleep.
• 50:12
  End of Chapter three, Chapter four, Morning at Green Gables. It was
• 50:16
  broad daylight when Anne awoke and sat up in bed, staring confusedly at the
• 50:21
  window, through which a flood of cheery sunshine was pouring, and outside of
• 50:23
  which something white and feathery waved across glimpses of blue sky. For a moment
• 50:29
  she could not remember where she was. First came a delightful thrill, as
• 50:32
  of something very pleasant, Then a horrible remembrance. This was Green Gables,
• 50:38
  and they didn't want her because she wasn't a boy. But it was morning,
• 50:42
  and yes, it was a cherry tree in full bloom outside of her
• 50:45
  window. With a bound she was out of bed and across the floor.
• 50:49
  She pushed up the sash. It went up stiffly and creakily, as if
• 50:52
  it hadn't been opened for a long time, which was the case, and
• 50:54
  it stuck so tight that nothing was needed to hold it up. Anne dropped
• 51:00
  on her knees and gazed out into the June morning, her eyes glistening with
• 51:02
  delight. Oh, wasn't it beautiful? Wasn't it a lovely place? Suppose
• 51:07
  she wasn't really going to stay here, she would imagine she was. There
• 51:12
  was scope for imagination here. A huge cherry tree grew outside, so close
• 51:16
  that its boughs tapped against the house, and it was so fixed set with
• 51:21
  blossoms that hardly a leaf was to be seen. On both sides of the
• 51:23
  house was a big orchard, one of apple trees and one of cherry trees,
• 51:28
  also showered over with blossoms, and their grasp was all sprinkled with dandelions.
• 51:32
  In the garden below were lilac trees purple with flowers, and their dizzily
• 51:37
  sweet fragrance drifted up to the window on the morning wind. Below the garden,
• 51:42
  a green field lushed with clover, sloped down to the hollow where the
• 51:45
  brook ran, and where scores of white birches grew up, springing airily out
• 51:50
  of an undergrowth, suggestive of delightful possibilities in ferns and mosses and wood seed
• 51:53
  things generally. Beyond it was a hill, green and feathery with spruce and
• 51:59
  fur. There was a gap in it where the gray gable end of the
• 52:01
  little house she had seen from the other side of the Lake of Shining Waters
• 52:06
  was visible. Off to the left were the big barns, and beyond them,
• 52:09
  away down over green, low sloping fields, was a sparkling blue glimpse
• 52:15
  of sea. Anne's beauty loving eyes lingered on it all, taking everything greedily
• 52:21
  in. She had looked on so many unlovely places in her life, poor
• 52:24
  child, but this was as lovely as anything she had ever dreamed. She
• 52:29
  knelt there, lost to everything but the loveliness around her, until she was
• 52:32
  startled by a hand on her shoulder. Marilla had come in, unheard by
• 52:36
  the small dreamer. It's time you were dressed, she said curtly. Marilla
• 52:40
  really did not know how to talk to the child, and her uncomfortable ignorance
• 52:45
  made her crisp and curt when she did not mean to be. Anne stood
• 52:49
  up and drew a long breath. Oh, isn't it wonderful? She said,
• 52:52
  waving her hand comprehensively at the good world outside. It's a big tree,
• 52:55
  said Marilla. And it blooms great, but the fruit don't amount to
• 53:00
  much, never small and wormy. Oh I don't mean just the tree,
• 53:04
  of course, it's lovely, Yes, it's radiantly lovely. It blooms as
• 53:07
  if it meant it. But I meant everything, the garden and the orchard,
• 53:12
  and the brook and the woods, the whole big, dear world.
• 53:15
  Don't you feel as if you just loved the world on a morning like this?
• 53:19
  And I can hear the brook laughing all the way up here. Have
• 53:22
  you ever noticed what cheerful things brooks are. They're always laughing, even in
• 53:25
  winter time. I've heard them under the ice. I'm so glad there's a
• 53:29
  brook near green Gables. Perhaps you think it doesn't make any difference to me
• 53:32
  when you're not going to keep me, but it does. I shall always
• 53:35
  like to remember that there is a brook at green Gables, even if I
• 53:37
  never see it again. If there wasn't a brook, I'd be haunted by
• 53:42
  the uncomfortable feeling that there ought to be one. I'm not in the depths
• 53:45
  of despair this morning. I never can be in the morning. Isn't it
• 53:49
  a splendid thing that there are mornings? But I feel very sad. I've
• 53:53
  just been imagining that it was really me you wanted after all, and that
• 53:57
  I was to stay here forever and ever. It was a great comfort while
• 54:00
  it lasted. But the worst of imagining things is that the time comes when
• 54:05
  you have to stop, and that hurts. You'd better get dressed and come
• 54:08
  downstairs, and never mind your imaginings, said Marilla as soon as she could
• 54:12
  get a word in edgewise. Breakfast is waiting. Wash your face and comb
• 54:15
  your hair, leave the window up, and turn your bedclothes back over the
• 54:17
  foot of the bed. Be as smart as you can. Anne could evidently
• 54:21
  be smart to some purpose, for she was downstairs in ten minutes time,
• 54:24
  with her clothes neatly on, her hair brushed and braided, her face washed,
• 54:28
  and a comfortable consciousness pervading her soul that she had fulfilled all Marilla's requirements.
• 54:32
  As a matter of fact, however, she had forgotten to turn back
• 54:35
  the bedclothes. I'm pretty hungry this morning, she announced, as she slipped
• 54:38
  into the chair Marilla placed for her. The world doesn't seem such a howling
• 54:43
  wilderness as it did last night. I'm so glad it's a sunshiny morning.
• 54:46
  But I like rainy mornings real well too. All sorts of mornings are interesting,
• 54:51
  don't you think? You don't know what's going to happen through the day,
• 54:54
  and there's so much scope for imagination. But I'm glad it's not rainy
• 54:58
  to day, because it's easier to be cheerful and bear up under affliction on
• 55:00
  a sunshiny day. I feel that I have a good deal to bear up
• 55:05
  under. It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through
• 55:08
  them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them,
• 55:12
  is it? For pity's sake? Hold your tongue, said Marilla.
• 55:15
  You talk entirely too much for a little girl. Thereupon, Anne held her
• 55:20
  tongue so obediently and thoroughly that her continued silence made Marilla rather nervous, as
• 55:23
  if in the presence of something not exactly natural. Matthew also held his tongue,
• 55:29
  but this was natural, so that the meal was a very silent one
• 55:32
  as it progressed, Anne became more and more abstracted, eating mechanically with her
• 55:37
  big eyes fixed unswervingly and unseeingly on the sky outside the window. This made
• 55:42
  Marilla more nervous than ever. She had an uncomfortable feeling that while this odd
• 55:45
  child's body might be there at the table, her spirit was far away in
• 55:49
  some remote airy cloud land, borne aloft on the wings of imagination. Who
• 55:53
  would want such a child about the place? Yet Matthew wished to keep her
• 55:58
  of all unaccountable things. Marilla felt that he wanted it just as much this
• 56:01
  morning as he had the night before, and that he would go on wanting
• 56:05
  it. That was Matthew's way, take a whim into his head and cling
• 56:08
  to it with the most amazing silent persistency, a persistency ten times more potent
• 56:14
  and effectual in it's very silence than if he had talked it out. When
• 56:17
  the meal was ended, Anne came out of a reverie and offered to wash
• 56:21
  the dishes. Can you wash dishes right, asked Marilla distrustfully. Pretty Well,
• 56:27
  I'm better at looking after children, though I've had so much experience at
• 56:30
  that. It's such a pity you haven't any here for me to look after.
• 56:32
  I don't feel as if I wanted any more children to look after than
• 56:36
  I've got at present. You're a problem enough in all conscience. What's to
• 56:39
  be done with you? I don't know. Matthew is a most ridiculous man.
• 56:44
  I think he's lovely, said Anne, reproachfully. He's so very sympathetic.
• 56:47
  He didn't mind how much I talked. He seemed to like it.
• 56:51
  I've felt that he was a kindred spirit as soon as ever I saw him.
• 56:53
  You're both queer enough, if that's what you mean by kindred spirits,
• 56:57
  said Marilla with a sniff. Yes, you may wash the dish, take
• 57:00
  plenty of hot water, and be sure you drive them. Well. I've
• 57:02
  got enough to attend to this morning, for i'll have to drive over to
• 57:06
  White Sands in the afternoon and see missus Spencer. You'll come with me.
• 57:08
  I will settle what's to be done with you. After you've finish the dishes,
• 57:10
  go upstairs and make your bed. Anne washed the dishes deftly enough,
• 57:15
  as Marilla, who kept a sharp eye on the process, discerned later on.
• 57:17
  She made her bed less successfully, for she had never learned the art
• 57:21
  of wrestling with a feather tig. But it was done somehow and smoothed down.
• 57:24
  And then Marilla, to get rid of her, told her she might
• 57:28
  go out of doors and amuse herself until dinner time. Anne flew to the
• 57:30
  door, face alight, eyes glowing on the very threshold, she stopped,
• 57:36
  short, wheeled about, came back and sat down by the table. Light
• 57:38
  and glow was effectually blotted out, as if someone had clapped an extinguisher on
• 57:43
  her. What's the matter now, demanded Marilla. I don't dare go out,
• 57:47
  said Anne, in the tone of a martyr, relinquishing all earthly joys.
• 57:52
  If I can't stay here, there's no use in my loving green Gables.
• 57:55
  And if I go out there and get acquainted with all those trees and
• 57:59
  flowers in the arch in the brook, I'll not be able to help loving
• 58:01
  it. It's hard enough now, so I won't make it any harder.
• 58:05
  I want to go out so much. Everything seems to be calling to me,
• 58:08
  an an come out to us, and and we want a playmate.
• 58:14
  But it's better not. There is no use in loving things if you have
• 58:16
  to be torn from the miz there, And it's so hard to keep from
• 58:20
  loving things, isn't it? That was why I was so glad when I
• 58:22
  thought I was going to live here. I thought I'd have so many things
• 58:25
  to love and nothing to hinder me. But that brief dream is over.
• 58:29
  I am resigned to my fate now, so I don't think i'll go out
• 58:32
  for fear I'll get unresigned again. What is the name of that geranium on
• 58:36
  the window sill? Please? That's the apple scented geranium. Oh? I
• 58:40
  don't mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name. You
• 58:43
  gave it yourself. Didn't you give it a name? May I give it
• 58:46
  one? Then? May I call it? Let me see Bonnie? Would
• 58:51
  do? May I call it Bonnie while I'm here? Oh? Do?
• 58:53
  Let me? Goodness? I don't care. But where on earth is the
• 58:57
  sense of naming a geranium? Oh? I like things to have handles,
• 59:00
  even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people.
• 59:05
  How do you know but that it hurts a geranium's feelings just to be called
• 59:07
  a geranium and nothing else. You wouldn't like to be called nothing but a
• 59:10
  woman all the time? Yes, I shall call it Bonnie. I named
• 59:15
  that cherry tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it snow Queen
• 59:19
  because it was so white. Of course it won't always be in blossom,
• 59:22
  but one can imagine that it is, can't one. I never, in
• 59:24
  all my life saw or heard anything to equal her, muttered Marilla, beating
• 59:29
  a retreat down to the cellar after potatoes. She is kind of interesting,
• 59:31
  as Matthew says. I can feel already that I'm wondering what on earth she'll
• 59:36
  say next. She'll be casting a spell over me too. She's cast it
• 59:38
  over Matthew. That look he gave me when he went out said everything he
• 59:42
  said or hinted it last night over again. I wish he was like other
• 59:45
  men and would talk things out. A body could answer back then and argue
• 59:49
  him into reason. But what's to be done with a man who just looks
• 59:52
  Anne had relapsed into revery, with her chin in her hands and her eyes
• 59:55
  on the sky when Marilla returned from her cellar pilgrimage there Marie Marilla left her
• 1:00:00
  until the early dinner was on the table. I suppose I can have the
• 1:00:04
  mare and Buggy this afternoon, Matthew, said Marilla. Matthew nodded and looked
• 1:00:07
  wistfully at Anne. Marilla intercepted the look and said grimly, I'm going to
• 1:00:12
  drive over to White Sands and settle this thing. I'll take Anne with me,
• 1:00:15
  and missus Spencer will probably make arrangements to send her back to Nova Scotia
• 1:00:17
  at once. I'll set your tea out for you, and i'll be home
• 1:00:21
  in time to milk the cows. Still, Matthew said nothing, and Marilla
• 1:00:24
  had a sense of having wasted words and breath. There is nothing more aggravating
• 1:00:29
  than a man who won't talk back, unless it is a woman who won't.
• 1:00:32
  Matthew hitched the Sorrel into the buggy in due time, and Marilla and
• 1:00:36
  Anne set off. Matthew opened the yard gate for them, and as they
• 1:00:38
  drove slowly through, he said, to nobody in particular, as it seemed
• 1:00:44
  little Jerry Bloked from the Creek was here this morning, and I told him
• 1:00:46
  I guess I'd heard him for the summer. Marilla made no reply, but
• 1:00:51
  she hit the unlucky Sorrel such a vicious clip with the whip that the fat
• 1:00:53
  mare, unused to such treatment, whizzed indignantly down the lane at an alarming
• 1:00:58
  pace. Marilla looked back once as the buggy bounced along, and saw that
• 1:01:01
  aggravating Matthew leaning over the gate, looking wistfully after them. End of Chapter
• 1:01:08
  four, Chapter five, Anne's History. Do you know? Said Anne confidentially.
• 1:01:15
  I've made up my mind to enjoy this drive. It's been my experience
• 1:01:19
  that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that
• 1:01:22
  you will. Of course, you must make it up firmly. I am
• 1:01:25
  not going to think about going back to the asylum while we're having our drive.
• 1:01:29
  I am just going to think about the drive. Oh look, there's
• 1:01:32
  one little early wild rose out. Isn't it lovely? Don't you think it
• 1:01:37
  must be glad to be a rose? Wouldn't it be nice if roses could
• 1:01:40
  talk? I'm sure they could tell us such lovely things. And isn't pink
• 1:01:45
  the most bewitching color in the world. I love it, but I can't
• 1:01:49
  wear it. Red headed people can't wear pink, not even in imagination.
• 1:01:52
  Did you ever know of anybody whose hair was red when she was young but
• 1:01:55
  got to be another color when she grew up? No, I don't know,
• 1:01:59
  as I ever did, said Marilla. Mercilessly, and I shouldn't think
• 1:02:01
  it likely to happen in your case either. Anne sighed, well, that
• 1:02:07
  is another hope gone. My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.
• 1:02:10
  That's a sentence I read in a book once, and I say it over
• 1:02:14
  to comfort myself whenever I'm disappointed in anything. I don't see where the comforting
• 1:02:19
  comes in myself, said Marilla. Why because it sounds so nice and romantic,
• 1:02:22
  just as if I were a heroine in a book. You know,
• 1:02:25
  I'm so fond of romantic things, and a graveyard full of buried hopes is
• 1:02:29
  about as romantic a thing as one can imagine, isn't it. I'm rather
• 1:02:32
  glad I have one. Are we going across the Lake of Shining Waters to
• 1:02:36
  day? We're not going over Berry's Pond, if that's what you mean by
• 1:02:39
  your lake of Shining Waters. We're going by the shore road. Shore road
• 1:02:44
  sounds nice, said Anne dreamily. Is it as nice as it sounds?
• 1:02:47
  Just when you said shore road, I saw it in a picture in my
• 1:02:51
  mind as quick as that. And White Sands is a pretty name, too,
• 1:02:53
  but I don't like it as well as Avonlea Avonlea is a lovely name.
• 1:02:58
  It just sounds like music. How far is it to White Sands?
• 1:03:01
  It's five miles. And as you're evidently bent on talking, you might as
• 1:03:05
  well talk to some purpose by telling me what you know about yourself. Oh,
• 1:03:09
  what I know about myself isn't really worth telling, said Anne eagerly.
• 1:03:14
  If you'll only let me tell you what I imagine about myself, you'll think
• 1:03:16
  it ever so much more interesting. No, I don't want any of your
• 1:03:21
  imaginings. Just you stick to bald facts. Begin at the beginning. Where
• 1:03:24
  were you born? And how old are you? I was eleven last March,
• 1:03:29
  said Anne, resigning herself to bald facts with a little sigh. And
• 1:03:32
  I was born in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia. My father's name was Walter Shirley,
• 1:03:37
  and he was a teacher in the Bolingbroke High School. My mother's name
• 1:03:39
  was Bertha Shirley. Aren't Walter and Bertha lovely names? I'm so glad my
• 1:03:45
  parents had nice names. It would be a real disgrace to have a father
• 1:03:47
  named, well, say, Jedediah, wouldn't it. I guess it doesn't
• 1:03:52
  matter what a person's name is as long as he behaves himself, said Marilla,
• 1:03:55
  feeling herself called upon to inculcate a good and useful moral. Well,
• 1:04:00
  I don't know. Anne looked thoughtful. I read in a book once that
• 1:04:03
  a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been
• 1:04:08
  able to believe it. I don't believe a rose would be as nice if
• 1:04:11
  it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage. I suppose my father could
• 1:04:15
  have been a good man even if he had been called Jedediah, but I'm
• 1:04:18
  sure it would have been a cross. Well. My mother was a teacher
• 1:04:23
  in the high school too, but when she married father, she gave up
• 1:04:26
  teaching. Of course, a husband was enough responsibility. Missus Thomas said that
• 1:04:30
  they were a pair of babies and as poor as church mice. They went
• 1:04:32
  to live in a weeny teen little yellow house in Bolingbroke. I've never seen
• 1:04:36
  that house, but I've imagined it thousands of times. I think it must
• 1:04:41
  have had honeysuckle over the parlor window, and lilac's in the front yard,
• 1:04:45
  and lilies of the valley just inside the gate, Yes, and muslin curtains
• 1:04:48
  in all the windows. Muslin curtains give a house such an air. I
• 1:04:53
  was born in that house. Missus Thomas said I was the homeliest baby she
• 1:04:57
  ever saw. I was so scrawny and tiny and nothing but eyes, but
• 1:05:00
  that mother thought I was perfectly beautiful. I should think a mother would be
• 1:05:03
  a better judge than a poor woman who came in to scrub, wouldn't you.
• 1:05:06
  I'm glad she was satisfied with me, Anyhow, I would feel so
• 1:05:10
  sad if I thought I was a disappointment to her, because she didn't live
• 1:05:14
  very long after that. You see, she died of fever when I was
• 1:05:16
  just three months old. I do wish she'd live long enough for me to
• 1:05:19
  remember calling her mother. I think it would be so sweet to say,
• 1:05:23
  mother, don't you? And father died four days afterwards from fever too.
• 1:05:28
  That left me an orphan, and folks were at their wits end. So
• 1:05:30
  Missus Thomas said, what to do with me? You see, nobody wanted
• 1:05:33
  me even then. It seems to be my fate. Father and mother had
• 1:05:39
  both come from places far away, and it was well known they hadn't any
• 1:05:42
  relatives living. Finally, Missus Thomas said she'd take me, though she was
• 1:05:45
  poor. And had a drunken husband. She brought me up by hand.
• 1:05:49
  Do you know if there is anything in being brought up by hand that ought
• 1:05:53
  to make a people who are brought up that way better than other people?
• 1:05:56
  Because whenever I was naughty, Missus Thomas would ask me how I could be
• 1:05:59
  such a bad girl when she had brought me up by hand? Reproachful like
• 1:06:03
  mister and Missus Thomas moved away from Bolingbroke to Marysville, and I lived with
• 1:06:06
  them until I was eight years old. I helped look after the Thomas children.
• 1:06:11
  There were four of them younger than me, and I can tell you
• 1:06:14
  they took a lot of looking after. Then mister Thomas was killed falling under
• 1:06:17
  a train, and his mother offered to take Missus Thomas and the children,
• 1:06:20
  but she didn't want me. Missus Thomas was at her wits end, so
• 1:06:24
  she said what to do with me? Then Missus Hammond from up the river
• 1:06:27
  came down and said she'd take me, seeing I was handy with children,
• 1:06:30
  and I went up the river to live with her in a little clearing among
• 1:06:32
  the stumps. It was a very lonely place. I'm sure I could never
• 1:06:36
  have lived there if I hadn't had an imagination. Mister Hammond worked a little
• 1:06:41
  sawmill up there, and Missus Hammond had eight children. She had twins three
• 1:06:45
  times. I like babies in moderation, but twins three times in succession.
• 1:06:48
  It's too much, I told Missus Hammond so firmly. When the last pair
• 1:06:53
  came, I used to get so dreadfully tired of carrying them about. I
• 1:06:57
  lived up river with Missus Hammond over two and then mister Hammond died and Missus
• 1:07:01
  Hammond broke up housekeeping. She divided her children among her relatives and went to
• 1:07:06
  the States. I had to go to the asylum at Hopton because nobody would
• 1:07:10
  take me. They didn't want me at the asylum either. They said they
• 1:07:13
  were overcrowded as it was. But they had to take me, and I
• 1:07:15
  was there four months until Missus Spencer came. Anne finished up with another sigh
• 1:07:20
  of relief, this time evidently she did not like talking about her experiences in
• 1:07:25
  a world that had not wanted her. Did you ever go to school?
• 1:07:28
  Demanded Marilla, turning the sorrel mare down the shore road. Not a great
• 1:07:31
  deal. I went a little. The last year I stayed with Missus Thomas.
• 1:07:35
  When I went up river, we were so far from a school that
• 1:07:38
  I couldn't walk it in winter, and there was a vacation in summer,
• 1:07:41
  so I could only go in the spring and fall. But of course I
• 1:07:44
  went when I was at the Asylum. I can read pretty well, and
• 1:07:46
  I know ever so many pieces of poetry off by heart, the Battle of
• 1:07:50
  Hohenlinden and Edinburgh after Floden and Bingen of the Rhine, and most of the
• 1:07:56
  Lady of the Lake and most of the Seasons by James Thompson. Don't you
• 1:08:00
  just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back.
• 1:08:03
  There is a piece in the Fifth Reader, the Downfall of Poland, that
• 1:08:08
  is just full of thrills. Of course I wasn't in the Fifth Reader.
• 1:08:12
  I was only in the fourth But the big girls used to lend me theirs
• 1:08:14
  to read. Were those women, missus Thomas and missus Hammond. Good to
• 1:08:18
  you, asked Marilla, looking at Anne out of the corner of her eye.
• 1:08:23
  Oh, faltered Anne. Her sensitive little face suddenly flushed scarlet, and
• 1:08:28
  embarrassment sat on her brow. Oh they meant to be I know, they
• 1:08:32
  meant to be just as good and kind as possible. And when people mean
• 1:08:35
  to be good to you, you don't mind very much when they're not quite
• 1:08:40
  Always they had a good deal to worry them. You know. It's very
• 1:08:44
  trying to have a drunken husband, you see, And it must be very
• 1:08:46
  trying to have twins three times in succession, don't you think? But I
• 1:08:50
  feel sure they meant to be good to me. Marilla asked no more questions.
• 1:08:56
  Anne gave herself up to a silent rapture over the shore road, and
• 1:08:59
  Marilla guided the sorrel abstractedly while she pondered deeply. Pity was suddenly stirring in
• 1:09:03
  her heart for the child. What a starved, unloved life she had had,
• 1:09:09
  a life of drudgery and poverty and neglect. For Marilla was shrewd enough
• 1:09:13
  to read between the lines of Anne's history and divine the truth. No wonder
• 1:09:16
  she had been so delighted that the prospect of a real home. It was
• 1:09:19
  a pity she had to be sent back. What if she Marilla should indulge
• 1:09:25
  Matthew's unaccountable whim and let her stay. He was set on it, and
• 1:09:29
  the child seemed a nice, teachable little thing. She's got too much to
• 1:09:33
  say, thought Marilla. But she might be trained out of that, and
• 1:09:36
  there's nothing rude or slangy in what she does say. She's ladylike. It's
• 1:09:42
  likely her people were nice folks. The shore was woodsy and wild and lonesome.
• 1:09:46
  On the right hand, scrub first, their spirits, quite unbroken by
• 1:09:49
  long years of tussle with the Gulf winds, grew thickly on the left,
• 1:09:54
  where the steep red sandstone cliffs, so near the track in places that a
• 1:09:59
  mare of leicestainess than the Sorrel might have tried the nerves of the people behind
• 1:10:02
  her. Down at the base of the cliffs were heaps of surf worn rocks
• 1:10:06
  or little sandy coves, inlaid with pebbles, as with ocean jewels. Beyond
• 1:10:12
  lay the sea shimmering and blue, and over it soared the gulls, their
• 1:10:15
  pinions flashing silvery in the sunlight. Isn't the sea wonderful? Said Anne,
• 1:10:20
  rousing from a long, wide eyed silence. Once, when I lived in
• 1:10:25
  Marysville, mister Thomas hired an express wagon and took us all to spend the
• 1:10:29
  day at the shore ten miles away. I enjoyed every moment of that day,
• 1:10:32
  even if I had to look after the children all the time. I
• 1:10:35
  lived it over in happy dreams for years. But this shore is nicer than
• 1:10:40
  the Marysville Shore? Aren't those gulls splendid? Would you like to be a
• 1:10:44
  gull? I think I would, that is, if I couldn't be a
• 1:10:46
  human girl. Don't you think it would be nice to wake up at sunrise
• 1:10:50
  and swoop down over the water and away over that lovely blue wall day,
• 1:10:55
  and then at night to fly back to one's nest. Oh, I can
• 1:10:59
  just imagine myself doing it. What big house is that just ahead? Please?
• 1:11:02
  That's the White Sands Hotel. Mister Kirk runs it. But the season
• 1:11:05
  hasn't begun yet. There are heaps of Americans come there for the summer.
• 1:11:10
  They think this shore is just about right. I was afraid it might be
• 1:11:14
  Missus Spencer's place, said Anne mournfully. I don't want to get there.
• 1:11:17
  Somehow it will seem like the end of everything. End of chapter five,
• 1:11:23
  Chapter six, Marilla makes up her mind. Get there. They did.
• 1:11:29
  However, in due season, Missus Spencer lived in a big yellow house at
• 1:11:32
  White Sands Cove, and she came to the door with surprise and welcome mingled
• 1:11:36
  on her benevolent face. Dear, dear, she exclaimed, You're the last
• 1:11:41
  folks I was looking for to day. But I'm real glad to see you.
• 1:11:44
  You'll put your horse in and how are you, Anne? I'm as
• 1:11:46
  well as can be expected, Thank you, said Anne smilelessly. A blight
• 1:11:50
  seemed to have descended on her. I suppose we'll stay a little while to
• 1:11:55
  rest the mare, said Marilla. But I promised Matthew i'd be home early.
• 1:11:59
  The fact is, Missus, there's been a queer mistake somewhere, and
• 1:12:00
  I've come over to see what it is. We send word, Matthew and
• 1:12:04
  I for you to bring us a boy from the asylum. We told your
• 1:12:08
  brother Robert to tell you we wanted a boy ten or eleven years old.
• 1:12:12
  Marilla Cuthbert, You don't say so, said Missus Spencer, in distress.
• 1:12:15
  Why Robert sent down word by his daughter Nancy, and she said you wanted
• 1:12:18
  a girl, didn't she Flora Jane, appealing to her daughter, who had
• 1:12:21
  come out to the steps. She certainly did. Miss Cuthbert corroborated Flora Jane
• 1:12:26
  earnestly, I'm dreadfully sorry, said missus Spencer. It's too bad. But
• 1:12:30
  it certainly wasn't my fault, you see, Miss Cuthbert, I did the
• 1:12:33
  best I could, and I thought I was following your instructions. Nancy is
• 1:12:38
  a terrible flighty thing. I have often had to scold her well for her
• 1:12:41
  heedlessness. It was our own fault, said Marilla resignedly. We should have
• 1:12:45
  come to you ourselves and not left an important message to be passed along by
• 1:12:48
  word of mouth in that fashion. Anyhow, the mistake has been made,
• 1:12:53
  and the only thing to do is set it right. Can we send the
• 1:12:56
  child back to the asylum. I suppose they'll take her back, won't they.
• 1:12:59
  I suppose so, said missus Spencer thoughtfully. But I don't think it
• 1:13:02
  will be necessary to spend her back. Missus Peter Blewett was up here yesterday
• 1:13:06
  and she was saying to me how much she wished she sent by me for
• 1:13:09
  a little girl to help her. Missus Peter has a large family, you
• 1:13:13
  know, and she finds it hard to get help. Anne will be the
• 1:13:15
  very girl for you. I call it positively providential. Marilla did not look
• 1:13:19
  as if she thought providence had much to do with the matter. Here was
• 1:13:23
  an unexpectedly good chance to get this unwelcome orphan off her hands, and she
• 1:13:27
  did not even feel grateful for it. She knew Missus Peter Blewett only by
• 1:13:31
  sight as a small, shrewish faced woman without an ounce of superfluous flesh on
• 1:13:35
  her bones, but she had heard of her. A terrible worker and driver.
• 1:13:40
  Missus Peter was said to be and discharged servant girls told fearsome tales of
• 1:13:43
  her temper and stinginess, and her family of perked quarrelsome children. Marilla felt
• 1:13:47
  a qualm of conscience at the thought of handing Anne over to her tender mercies.
• 1:13:53
  Well, I'll go in and we'll talk the matter over, she said.
• 1:13:56
  And if there isn't Missus Peter coming up the lane, this blessed minute,
• 1:14:00
  exclaimed Missus Spencer, bustling her guests through the hall into the parlor,
• 1:14:02
  where a deadly chill struck on them, as if the air had been strained
• 1:14:06
  so long through dark green, closely drawn blinds that it had lost every particle
• 1:14:11
  of warmth that it ever possessed. That is real lucky, for we can
• 1:14:15
  settle the matter straight away. Take the armchair. Miss Cuthbert, Anne,
• 1:14:18
  you sit here on the ottoman and don't wiggle. Let me take your hats.
• 1:14:21
  Flora Jane go out and put the kettle on. Good afternoon, Missus
• 1:14:26
  Blewett. We were just saying how fortunate it was you happened along. Let
• 1:14:30
  me introduce you to ladies, Missus Blewett. Miss Cuthbert, please excuse me
• 1:14:33
  for just a moment, I forgot to tell Flora Jane to take the buns
• 1:14:36
  out of the oven. Missus Spencer whisked away after pulling up the blinds.
• 1:14:42
  Anne, sitting mutely on the ottoman with her hands clasped tightly in her lap,
• 1:14:45
  stared at Missus Blewett as one fascinated was she to be given into the
• 1:14:49
  keeping of this sharp faced, sharp eyed woman. She felt a lump coming
• 1:14:54
  up in her throat, and her eyes smarted painfully. She was beginning to
• 1:14:58
  be afraid she couldn't keep back the tears, and Missus Spencer returned, flushed
• 1:15:00
  and beaming, quite capable of taking any and every difficulty, physical, mental,
• 1:15:04
  or spiritual, into consideration and settling it out of hand. It seems
• 1:15:10
  there's been a mistake about this little girl. Missus Blewett, she said,
• 1:15:13
  I was under the impression that mister and miss Cuthbert wanted a little girl to
• 1:15:15
  adopt. I was certainly told so, but it seems it was a boy
• 1:15:19
  they wanted. So if you're still of the same mind you were yesterday,
• 1:15:23
  I think she'll be just the thing for you. Missus Blewett darted her eyes
• 1:15:27
  over Anne from head to foot. How old are you and what's your name?
• 1:15:30
  She demanded, and surely faltered the shrinking child, not daring to make
• 1:15:34
  any stipulations regarding the spelling thereof. And I'm eleven years old. Humph.
• 1:15:40
  You don't look as if there was much to you, But you're wiry.
• 1:15:43
  I don't know, but the wiry ones are the best. After all.
• 1:15:45
  Well, if I take you, you'll have to be a good girl,
• 1:15:48
  you know, good and smart and respectful. I'll expect you to earn your
• 1:15:51
  keep, and no mistake about that. Yes, I suppose I might as
• 1:15:55
  well take her off your hands, Miss Cuthbert. The baby's awful, fractious,
• 1:15:59
  and I'm clean worn out attending to him. If you like, I
• 1:16:00
  can take her home right now. Marilla looked at Anne and softened at the
• 1:16:04
  sight of the child's pale face, with its look of mute misery, the
• 1:16:09
  misery of a helpless little creature who finds itself once more caught in the trap
• 1:16:12
  from which it had escaped. Marilla felt an uncomfortable conviction that if she denied
• 1:16:16
  the appeal of that look, it would haunt her to her dying day.
• 1:16:19
  Moreover, she did not fancy Missus Blewett to hand a sensitive, high strung
• 1:16:25
  child over to such a woman. No, she could not take the responsibility
• 1:16:29
  of doing that. Well, I don't know, she said slowly. I
• 1:16:32
  didn't say that Matthew and I had absolutely decided that we wouldn't keep her.
• 1:16:38
  In fact, I may say that Matthew is disposed to keep her. I
• 1:16:41
  just came over to find out how the mistake had occurred. I think I'd
• 1:16:44
  better take her home again and talk it over with Matthew. I feel that
• 1:16:46
  I oughtn't decide on anything without consulting him. If we make up our mind
• 1:16:50
  not to keep her, we'll bring or send her over to you tomorrow night.
• 1:16:55
  If we don't, you may know that she is going to stay with
• 1:16:57
  us. Will that suit you, Missus Blewett. I suppose it will have
• 1:17:00
  to, said Missus Blewett ungraciously. During Marilla's speech, a sunrise had been
• 1:17:05
  dawning on Anne's face. First look of despair faded out, then came a
• 1:17:11
  faint flush of hope. Her eyes grew deep and bright as morning stars.
• 1:17:15
  The child was quite transfigured, and a moment later, when Missus Spencer and
• 1:17:18
  Missus Blewett went out in quest of a recipe the latter had come to borrow,
• 1:17:23
  she sprang up and flew across the room to Marilla. Oh, miss
• 1:17:26
  Cuthbert, did you really say that perhaps you would let me stay at Green
• 1:17:29
  Gables? She said, in a breathless whisper, as if speaking aloud might
• 1:17:32
  shatter the glorious possibility? Did you really say it? Or did I only
• 1:17:36
  imagine that you did. I think you'd better learn to control that imagination of
• 1:17:41
  yours, Anne, if you can't distinguish between what is real and what isn't,
• 1:17:45
  said Marilla crossly. Yes, you did hear me say just that,
• 1:17:47
  and no more. It isn't decided yet, and perhaps we will conclude to
• 1:17:50
  let Missus Blewett take you. After all, she certainly needs you more than
• 1:17:54
  I do. I'd rather go back to the asylum than go to live with
• 1:17:57
  her, said Anne passionately. She looks exactly like a like a gimlet.
• 1:18:02
  Marilla smothered a smile under the conviction that Anne must be reproved for such a
• 1:18:05
  speech. A little girl like you should be ashamed of talking so about a
• 1:18:10
  lady and a stranger, she said severely. Go back and sit down quietly,
• 1:18:14
  and hold your tongue and behave as a good girl should. I'll try
• 1:18:17
  to do and be anything you want me, if only you'll keep me,
• 1:18:20
  said Anne, returning meekly to her ottoman. When they arrived back at Green
• 1:18:25
  Gable that evening, Matthew met them in the lane. Marilla from Afar had
• 1:18:28
  noted him prowling along it and guessed his motive. She was prepared for the
• 1:18:31
  relief she read in his face when he saw that she had at least brought
• 1:18:34
  Anne back with her, But she said nothing to him relative to the affair
• 1:18:40
  until they were both out in the yard behind the barn milking the cows.
• 1:18:43
  Then she briefly told him Anne's history and the result of the interview with Missus
• 1:18:45
  Spencer. I wouldn't give a dog I like to that bluett woman said Matthew
• 1:18:50
  with unusual vim. I don't fancy her style myself, admitted Marilla. But
• 1:18:55
  it's that or keeping her ourselves, Matthew. And since you seem to want
• 1:18:59
  her, I suppose I'm willing or have to be. I've been thinking over
• 1:19:02
  the idea until I've got kind of use to it. It seems a sort
• 1:19:05
  of duty. I've never brought up a child, especially a girl, and
• 1:19:10
  I dare say I'll make a terrible mess of it, but I'll do my
• 1:19:13
  best, so as far as I'm concerned, Matthew, she may stay.
• 1:19:16
  Matthew's shy face was a glow of delight. Well, now I reckoned you'd
• 1:19:20
  come to see it in that light, Marilla, he said. She's such
• 1:19:24
  an interesting little thing. It'd be more to the point if you could say
• 1:19:28
  she was a useful little thing, retorted Marilla. But I'll make it my
• 1:19:30
  business to see she's trained to be that. And mind, Matthew, you're
• 1:19:34
  not to go interfering with my methods. Perhaps an old maid doesn't know much
• 1:19:38
  about bringing up a child, but I guess she knows more than an old
• 1:19:42
  bachelor. So you'd just leave me to manage her when I fail it'll be
• 1:19:45
  time enough to put your ore in there. There, Marilla, you can
• 1:19:48
  have your own way, said Matthew, reassuringly. Only be as good and
• 1:19:53
  kind to her as you can without spoiling her. I kind of think she's
• 1:19:57
  one of the sort you can do anything with, if only you get her
• 1:19:59
  to love you. Marilla sniffed to express her contempt for Matthew's opinions concerning anything
• 1:20:03
  feminine, and walked off to the dairy with the pails. I won't tell
• 1:20:09
  her to night that she can stay, she reflected, as she strained the
• 1:20:11
  milk into the creamers. She'd be so excited that she wouldn't sleep a wink.
• 1:20:15
  Marilla Cuthbert, you're fairly in for it. Did you ever suppose you'd
• 1:20:18
  see the day when you'd be adopting an orphaned girl. It's surprising enough,
• 1:20:23
  but not so surprising as that Matthew should be at the bottom of it,
• 1:20:26
  him that always seemed to have such a mortal dread of little girls. Anyhow,
• 1:20:30
  we've decided on the experiment, and Goodness only knows what will become of
• 1:20:34
  it. End of chapter six. Chapter seven, Anne says her prayers.
• 1:20:42
  When Marilla took Anne up to bed that night, she said stiffly. Now,
• 1:20:45
  Anne, I noticed last night that you threw your clothes all about the
• 1:20:48
  floor when you took them off. That is a very untidy habit, and
• 1:20:53
  I can't allow it at all. As soon as you take off any article
• 1:20:56
  of clothing, fold it neatly and place it on the chair, I haven't
• 1:20:59
  any use at all for little girls who aren't neat I was so harrowed up
• 1:21:02
  in my mind last night that I didn't think about my clothes at all,
• 1:21:05
  said Anne. I'll fold them nicely to night. They always made us do
• 1:21:09
  that at the asylum. Half the time, though I'd forget. I'd be
• 1:21:12
  in such a hurry to get into bed nice and quiet and imagine things.
• 1:21:15
  You'll have to remember a little better if you stay here, admonished Marilla.
• 1:21:19
  There that looks something like, say your prayers now and get into bed.
• 1:21:24
  I never say any prayers, announced Anne. Marilla looked horrified astonishment. Why
• 1:21:30
  Anne, what do you mean? Were you never taught to say your prayers?
• 1:21:33
  God always wants little girls to say their prayers. Don't you know who
• 1:21:38
  God is? Anne? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and
• 1:21:41
  unchangeable in his being. Wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness,
• 1:21:44
  and truth, responded Anne, promptly and glibly. Marilla looked rather relieved.
• 1:21:49
  So you do know something, then, Thank goodness, you're not quite a
• 1:21:53
  heathen. Where did you learn that? Oh? At the asylum Sunday School.
• 1:21:57
  They made us learn the whole Catechism. I liked it pretty well.
• 1:22:00
  There's something splendid about some of the words infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.
• 1:22:04
  Isn't that grand? It has such a roll to it, just like a
• 1:22:08
  big organ playing. You couldn't quite call it poetry, I suppose, but
• 1:22:12
  it sounds a lot like it, doesn't it. We are not talking about
• 1:22:15
  poetry, Anne, We are talking about saying your prayers. Don't you know?
• 1:22:18
  It's a terrible, wicked thing not to say your prayers every night.
• 1:22:21
  I'm afraid you are a very bad little girl. You'd find it easier to
• 1:22:26
  be bad than good if you had red hair, said Anne, reproachfully.
• 1:22:30
  People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is, missus. Thomas told
• 1:22:34
  me that God made my hair red on purpose, and I've never cared about
• 1:22:39
  him since. And anyhow, I'd always be too tired at night to bother
• 1:22:43
  saying prayers. People who have to look after twins can't be expected to say
• 1:22:46
  their prayers, now, do you honestly think they can? Marilla decided that
• 1:22:51
  Anne's religious training must be begun at once. Plainly, there was no time
• 1:22:56
  to be lost. You must say your prayers while you were under my Anne.
• 1:23:00
  Why, of course, if you want me to assented, Anne cheerfully,
• 1:23:03
  I'd do anything to oblige you. But you'll have to tell me what
• 1:23:06
  to say for this once. After I get into bed, I'll imagine out
• 1:23:10
  a real nice prayer to say always. I believe that it will be quite
• 1:23:13
  interesting, now that I come to think of it. You must kneel down,
• 1:23:16
  said Marilla in embarrassment. Anne knelt at Marilla's knee and looked up gravely.
• 1:23:23
  Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray,
• 1:23:26
  I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big
• 1:23:30
  field all alone, or into the deep deep woods, and I'd look up
• 1:23:33
  into the sky, up up up into that lovely blue sky that looks as
• 1:23:39
  if there was no end to its blueness, and then I'd just feel a
• 1:23:43
  prayer. Well, I'm ready? What am I to say. Marilla felt
• 1:23:48
  more embarrassed than ever she had intended to teach Anne the childish classic. Now
• 1:23:53
  I lay me down to sleep. But she had, as I have told
• 1:23:57
  you, the glimmerings of a sense of humor, which is simply an their
• 1:24:00
  name for a sense of fitness of things. And it suddenly occurred to her
• 1:24:03
  that the simple little prayer sacred to white robed childhood, lisping at motherly knees,
• 1:24:09
  was entirely unsuited to this freckled witch of a girl who knew and cared
• 1:24:13
  nothing about God's love, since she had never had it translated to her through
• 1:24:16
  the medium of human love. You're old enough to pray for yourself, Anne,
• 1:24:20
  she said, Finally, just thank God for your blessings and ask him
• 1:24:25
  humbly for the things you want. Well, I'll do my best, promised
• 1:24:30
  Anne, burying her face in Marilla's lap. Gracious Heavenly Father, that's the
• 1:24:34
  way ministers say it in church, So I suppose it's all right in private
• 1:24:38
  prayer, isn't it, she interjected, lifting her head for a moment,
• 1:24:42
  Gracious Heavenly Father, I thank THEE for the white way of Delight and the
• 1:24:45
  Lake of shining Waters and Bonnie and the snow Queen. I'm really extremely grateful
• 1:24:50
  for them. And that's all the blessings I can think of just now to
• 1:24:54
  thank THEE for. As for the things I want, they're so numerous that
• 1:24:59
  it would take a great deal time to name them all, so I will
• 1:25:00
  only mention the two most important. Please let me stay at Green Gables,
• 1:25:05
  and please let me be good looking when I grow up. I remain yours,
• 1:25:09
  respectfully, Anne Shirley. There did I do all right? She asked,
• 1:25:14
  eagerly, getting up. I could have made it much more flowery if
• 1:25:16
  I'd had a little more time to think it over. Poor Marilla was only
• 1:25:20
  preserved from a complete collapse by remembering that it was not irreverence, but simply
• 1:25:25
  spiritual ignorance on the part of Anne, that was responsible for this extraordinary petition.
• 1:25:30
  She tucked the child up in bed, mentally vowing that she should be
• 1:25:32
  taught a prayer the very next day, and was leaving the room with the
• 1:25:35
  light when Anne called her back. I've just thought of it now. I
• 1:25:40
  should have said Amen in place of yours, respectfully, shouldn't I the way
• 1:25:44
  the ministers do. I'd forgotten it but I felt a prayer should be finished
• 1:25:47
  off in some way, so I put in the other. Do you suppose
• 1:25:50
  it will make any difference? I I don't suppose it will, said Marilla.
• 1:25:56
  Go to sleep now like a good child. Good night, I can
• 1:26:00
  and say good night to night with a clear conscience, said Anne, cuddling
• 1:26:01
  luxuriously down among her pillows. Marilla retreated to the kitchen, set the candle
• 1:26:08
  firmly on the table, and glared at Matthew. Matthew Cuthbert. It's about
• 1:26:12
  time somebody adopted that child and taught her something. She's next door to a
• 1:26:15
  perfect heathen. Will you believe that she never said a prayer in her life
• 1:26:18
  till tonight. I'll send her to the manse tomorrow and borrow the peep of
• 1:26:21
  the day series. That's what I'll do, and she shall go to Sunday
• 1:26:25
  school just as soon as I can get some suitable clothes made for her.
• 1:26:29
  I foresee that I shall have my hands full. Well, Well, we
• 1:26:31
  can't get through this world without our share of trouble. I've had a pretty
• 1:26:35
  easy life of it so far, but my time has come at last,
• 1:26:38
  and I suppose I'll just have to make the best of it. End of
• 1:26:43
  chapter seven. Chapter eight, Anne's bringing up is begun. For reasons best
• 1:26:48
  known to herself. Marilla did not tell Anne that she was to stay at
• 1:26:51
  Green Gables until the next afternoon. During the forenoon, she kept the child
• 1:26:56
  busy with various tasks and watched over her with a keen eye while she did
• 1:27:00
  them. By noon, she had concluded that Anne was smart and obedient,
• 1:27:03
  willing to work, and quick to learn. Her most serious shortcoming seemed to
• 1:27:08
  be a tendency to fall into day dreams in the middle of a task and
• 1:27:10
  forget all about it until such time as she was sharply recalled to worth by
• 1:27:14
  a reprimand or a catastrophe. When Anne had finished washing the dinner dishes,
• 1:27:18
  she suddenly confronted Marilla with the air and expression of one desperately determined to learn
• 1:27:23
  the worst. Her thin little body trembled from head to foot, her face
• 1:27:27
  flushed, and her eyes dilated until they were almost black. She clasped her
• 1:27:31
  hands tightly and said, in an imploring voice, Oh, please, Miss
• 1:27:34
  Cuthbert, won't you tell me if you are going to send me away or
• 1:27:38
  not. I've tried to be patient all the morning, but I really feel
• 1:27:41
  that I cannot bear not knowing any longer. It's a dreadful feeling. Please
• 1:27:45
  tell me you haven't scalded the dishcloth in clean hot water, as I told
• 1:27:49
  you to do, said Marilla, immovably. Just go and do it before
• 1:27:53
  you ask any more questions. Anne Anne went and attended to the dishcloth.
• 1:27:58
  Then she returned to Marilla and fast and imploring eyes on the latter's face.
• 1:28:01
  Well, said Marilla, unable to find any excuse for deferring her explanation any
• 1:28:06
  longer. I suppose I might as well tell you, Matthew and I have
• 1:28:11
  decided to keep you, that is, if you will try to be a
• 1:28:13
  good little girl and show yourself grateful. Why, child, whatever is the
• 1:28:16
  matter? I'm crying, said Anne in a tone of bewilderment. I can't
• 1:28:23
  think why. I'm as glad as can be. Oh, glad doesn't seem
• 1:28:27
  the right word at all. I was glad about the white way and the
• 1:28:30
  cherry blossoms. But this, Oh, it's something more than glad. I'm
• 1:28:33
  so happy. I'll try to be so good. It will be uphill work
• 1:28:38
  I expect for missus. Thomas often told me I was desperately wicked. However,
• 1:28:42
  I'll do my very best. But can you tell me why I'm crying?
• 1:28:46
  I suppose it's because you're all excited and worked up, said Marilla disapprovingly.
• 1:28:50
  Sit down on that chair and try to calm yourself. I'm afraid you
• 1:28:54
  both cry and laugh far too easily. Yes, you can stay here and
• 1:28:58
  we will try to do right by you. You might go to school,
• 1:29:00
  but it's only a fortnight till vacation, so it isn't worth while for you
• 1:29:03
  to start before it opens again in September. What am I to call you,
• 1:29:08
  asked Anne. Shall I always say Miss Cuthbert? Can I call you
• 1:29:12
  Aunt Marilla? No, you'll call me just plain Marilla. I'm not used
• 1:29:15
  to being called Miss Cuthbert, and it would make me nervous. It sounds
• 1:29:18
  awfully disrespectful to just say Marilla, protested Anne. I guess there'll be nothing
• 1:29:24
  disrespectful in it if you're careful to speak respectfully. Everybody young and old in
• 1:29:28
  Avonlea calls me Marilla, except the minister. He says miss Cuthbert when he
• 1:29:31
  thinks of it. I'd love to call you Aunt Marilla, said Anne wistfully,
• 1:29:36
  I've never had an aunt or any relation at all, not even a
• 1:29:39
  grandmother. It would make me feel as if I really belong to you.
• 1:29:43
  Can't I call you aunt? Marilla? No, I am not your aunt,
• 1:29:46
  and I don't believe in calling people names that don't belong to them.
• 1:29:49
  But we could imagine you were my aunt, I couldn't, said Marilla grimly.
• 1:29:55
  Do you never imagine things different from what they really are? Asked Anne,
• 1:29:59
  wide eyed? No oh, Anne drew a long breath. Oh,
• 1:30:04
  miss Marilla, how much you, miss? I don't believe in imagining things
• 1:30:11
  different from what they really are, retorted Marilla. When the Lord puts us
• 1:30:14
  in certain circumstances, he doesn't mean for us to imagine them away, and
• 1:30:17
  that reminds me. Go into the sitting room, Anne, be sure your
• 1:30:20
  feet are clean, and don't let any flies in, and bring me out
• 1:30:24
  the illustrated card that's on the mantelpiece. The Lord's prayer is on it,
• 1:30:28
  and you'll devote your spare time this afternoon to learning it off by heart.
• 1:30:30
  There's to be no more of such praying as I heard last night. I
• 1:30:34
  suppose I was very awkward, said Anne apologetically. But then you see I'd
• 1:30:39
  never had any practice. You couldn't really expect a person to pray very well
• 1:30:43
  the first time she tried, could you? I thought out a splendid prayer
• 1:30:46
  after I went to bed, just as I promised you I would. It
• 1:30:48
  was nearly as long as a minister's in so poetical, but would you believe
• 1:30:53
  it? I couldn't remember one word when I woke up this morning, and
• 1:30:56
  I'm afraid I'll never be able to think out another one as good. Some
• 1:31:00
  things are never so good when they're thought out a second time. Have you
• 1:31:02
  ever noticed that here is something for you to notice? Anne? When I
• 1:31:06
  tell you to do a thing, I want you to obey me at once,
• 1:31:09
  and not stand stock still and discourse about it. Just you go and
• 1:31:13
  do as I bid you. Anne promptly departed for the sitting room across the
• 1:31:15
  hall. She failed to return. After waiting ten minutes, Marilla laid down
• 1:31:20
  her knitting and marched after her with a grim expression. She found Anne standing
• 1:31:25
  motionless before a picture hanging on the wall between the two windows, with her
• 1:31:28
  eyes as star with dreams. The white and green light straining through apple trees
• 1:31:31
  and clustering vines outside fell over the rapt little figure with a half unearthly radiance.
• 1:31:38
  Anne, whatever are you thinking of? Demanded Marilla sharply. Anne came
• 1:31:42
  back to Worth with a start, that she said, pointing to the picture,
• 1:31:46
  a rather vivid chromo entitled Christ's Blessing Little Children. And I was just
• 1:31:50
  imagining I was one of them. That I was the little girl in the
• 1:31:54
  blue dress, standing off by herself in the corner, as if she didn't
• 1:31:57
  belong to anybody like me. She looks lonely and sad, don't you think?
• 1:32:01
  I guess she hadn't any father or mother of her own, but she
• 1:32:04
  wanted to be blessed too, so she just crept shyly up on the outside
• 1:32:08
  of the crowd, hoping nobody would notice her except him. I'm sure I
• 1:32:12
  know just how she felt. Her heart must have beat and her hands must
• 1:32:15
  have got cold like minded when I asked you if I could stay. She
• 1:32:19
  was afraid he mightn't notice her, But it's likely he did, don't you
• 1:32:23
  think I've been trying to imagine it all out, her edging a little nearer
• 1:32:27
  all the time until she was quite close to him, and then he would
• 1:32:30
  look at her and put his hand on her hair, and oh, such
• 1:32:33
  a thrill of joy as would run over her. But I wish the artist
• 1:32:38
  hadn't painted him so sorrowful looking. All his pictures are like that, if
• 1:32:41
  you've noticed. But I don't believe he could really have looked so sad,
• 1:32:45
  or the children would have been afraid of him, Anne said Marilla, wondering
• 1:32:48
  why she had not broken into this speech long before. You shouldn't talk that
• 1:32:53
  way. It's irreverent, positively irreverent. Anne's eyes marveled. Why I felt
• 1:32:59
  just as reverent as could be. I'm sure I didn't mean to be ir
• 1:33:01
  reverent. Well, I don't suppose you did. But it doesn't sound right
• 1:33:05
  to talk so familiarly about such things. And another thing, Anne, when
• 1:33:09
  I send you after something, you're to bring it back at once and not
• 1:33:12
  fall into mooning and imagining before pictures. Remember that. Take that card and
• 1:33:16
  come right to the kitchen. Now, sit down in the corner and learn
• 1:33:19
  that prayer off by heart. Anne set the card up against the jugful of
• 1:33:24
  apple blossoms she had brought in to decorate the dinner table. Marilla had eyed
• 1:33:28
  that decoration askance, but had said nothing. Propped her chin on her hands
• 1:33:31
  and fell to studying it intently for several silent minutes. I like this,
• 1:33:35
  she announced at length. It's beautiful. I've heard it before. I heard
• 1:33:40
  the superintendent of the Asylum Sunday School say it over once, but I didn't
• 1:33:44
  like it. Then he had such a cracked voice, and he prayed it
• 1:33:46
  so mournfully. I really felt sure he thought praying was a disagreeable duty.
• 1:33:51
  This isn't poetry, but it makes me feel just the same way poetry does.
• 1:33:57
  Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thyme. That is just like
• 1:34:00
  a line of music. Oh, I'm so glad you thought of making me
• 1:34:03
  learn this, Miss Marilla. Well learn it and hold your tongue, said
• 1:34:09
  Marilla. Shortly. Anne tipped the vase of apple blossoms near enough to bestow
• 1:34:13
  a soft kiss on a pink cupped bud, and then studied diligently for some
• 1:34:16
  moments longer. Marilla, she demanded, presently, do you think that I
• 1:34:23
  shall ever have a bosom friend in avonlea A A what kind of friend?
• 1:34:28
  A bosom friend? An intimate friend, you know, a really kindred spirit
• 1:34:31
  to whom I can confide my inmost soul. I've dreamed of meeting her all
• 1:34:35
  my life. I never really supposed I would, but so many of my
• 1:34:40
  loveliest dreams have come true all at once, that perhaps this one will too.
• 1:34:44
  Do you think it's possible. Diana Barry lives over at Orchard Slope,
• 1:34:47
  and she's about your age. She's a very nice little girl, and perhaps
• 1:34:50
  she will be a playmate for you when she comes home. She's visiting her
• 1:34:54
  aunt over at Carmody. Just now, you'll have to be careful how you
• 1:34:57
  behave yourself, though. Missus Barry is a very particular woman. She won't
• 1:35:00
  let Diana play with any little girl who isn't nice and good. Anne looked
• 1:35:04
  at Marilla through the apple blossoms, her eyes aglow with interest. What is
• 1:35:09
  Diana like? Her hair isn't red? Is it? Oh? I hope
• 1:35:12
  not. It's bad enough to have red hair myself, but I positively couldn't
• 1:35:15
  endure it in a bosom friend. Diana is a very pretty little girl.
• 1:35:18
  She has black eyes and hair and rosy cheeks, and she is good and
• 1:35:21
  smart, which is better than being pretty. Marilla was as fond of morals
• 1:35:27
  as the Duchess in Wonderland, and was firmly convinced that one should be tacked
• 1:35:30
  on to every remark made to a child who was being brought up. But
• 1:35:33
  Anne waved the moral and consequentially aside and seized only on the delightful possibilities before
• 1:35:39
  it. Oh, I'm so glad she's pretty next to being beautiful one's self,
• 1:35:44
  and that's impossible. In my case, it would be best to have
• 1:35:45
  a beautiful bosom friend. When I lived with Missus Thomas, she had a
• 1:35:49
  bookcase in her sitting room with glass doors. There weren't any books in it.
• 1:35:54
  Missus Thomas kept her best china and her preserves there when she had any
• 1:35:57
  preserves to keep. One of the doors was broken mister Thomas smashed it one
• 1:36:01
  night when he was slightly intoxicated, but the other was whole, and I
• 1:36:04
  used to pretend that my reflection in it was another little girl who lived in
• 1:36:08
  it. I called her Katy Maurice, and we were very intimate. I
• 1:36:12
  used to talk to her by the hour, especially on Sunday, and tell
• 1:36:15
  her everything. Katy was the comfort and consolation of my life. We used
• 1:36:18
  to pretend that the bookcase was enchanted, and that if I only knew the
• 1:36:21
  spell, I could open the door and step right into the room where Katy
• 1:36:25
  Maurice lived, instead of into Missus Thomas's shelves of preserves in China. And
• 1:36:30
  then Katy Maurice would have taken me by the hand and led me out into
• 1:36:32
  the wonderful place of flowers and sunshine and fairies, and we would have lived
• 1:36:36
  there happy forever after. When I went to live with Missus Hammond, it
• 1:36:41
  just broke my heart to leave Katy Maurice. She felt it dreadfully too.
• 1:36:45
  I know she did, for she was crying when she kissed me good bye
• 1:36:46
  through the bookcase door. There was no bookcase at Missus Hammond's, but just
• 1:36:51
  up the river, a little way from the house, there was a long,
• 1:36:54
  green little valley, and the loveliest echo lived there. It echoed back
• 1:36:59
  every word, you see, even if you didn't talk a bit loud.
• 1:37:01
  So I imagined that it was a little girl called Violetta, and we were
• 1:37:04
  great friends. And I loved her almost as well as I loved Katy Maurice.
• 1:37:09
  Not quite, but almost, you know. The night before I went
• 1:37:13
  to the asylum, I said good bye to Violetta, and oh, her
• 1:37:15
  good bye came back to me in such sad, sad tones. I had
• 1:37:19
  become so attached to her that I hadn't the heart to imagine a bosom friend
• 1:37:23
  of the asylum, even if there had been any scope for imagination there.
• 1:37:27
  I think it's just as well there wasn't, said Marilla dryly. I don't
• 1:37:30
  approve of such goings on. You seem to half believe your own imaginations.
• 1:37:34
  It will be well for you to have a real live friend to put such
• 1:37:38
  nonsense out of your head. But don't let missus Barry hear you talking about
• 1:37:42
  your Katy Maurice's and your Violetta's, or she'll think you tell stories. Oh
• 1:37:45
  I won't. I couldn't talk of them to everybody. Their memories are too
• 1:37:48
  sacred for that. But I thought i'd like to have you know about them.
• 1:37:53
  Oh look, there's a big bee just tumbled out of an apple blossom.
• 1:37:57
  Just think what a lovely place to live in an apple blossom. Fancy
• 1:38:00
  going to sleep in it when the wind was rocking it. If I wasn't
• 1:38:03
  a human girl, I think I'd like to be a bee and live among
• 1:38:06
  the flowers. Yesterday, you wanted to be a sea gull, sniffed Marilla.
• 1:38:12
  I think you are very thickle minded. I told you to learn that
• 1:38:15
  prayer and not talk, but it seems impossible for you to stop talking if
• 1:38:17
  you've got anybody that will listen to you. So go up to your room
• 1:38:20
  and learn it. Oh, I know it pretty nearly all now, all
• 1:38:24
  but just the last line. Well, never mind, Do as I tell
• 1:38:28
  you. Go to your room and finish learning it well, and stay there
• 1:38:30
  until I call you down to help me get TEA Can I take the apple
• 1:38:33
  blossoms with me for company? Pleaded Anne. No, you don't want your
• 1:38:38
  room cluttered up with flowers. You should have left them on the tree in
• 1:38:41
  the first place. I did feel a little that way, too, said
• 1:38:44
  Anne. I kind of felt that I shouldn't shorten their lovely lives by picking
• 1:38:47
  them. I wouldn't want to be picked if I were an apple blossom.
• 1:38:50
  But the temptation was irresistible. What do you do when you meet with an
• 1:38:55
  irresistible temptation? Anne? Did you hear me tell you to go to your
• 1:38:59
  room? Anne sighed, retreated to the east gable and sat down in a
• 1:39:02
  chair by the window. There. I know this prayer. I learned that
• 1:39:08
  last sentence coming upstairs. Now, I'm going to imagine things into this room
• 1:39:12
  so they'll always stay imagined. The floor is covered with a white velvet carpet
• 1:39:16
  with pink roses all over it, and there are pink silk curtains at the
• 1:39:20
  windows. The walls are hung with gold and silver brocade tapestry. The furniture
• 1:39:26
  is mahogany. I never saw any mahogany, but it does sound so luxurious.
• 1:39:30
  This is a couch, all heaped with gorgeous silken cushions, pink and
• 1:39:34
  blue and crimson and gold, and I am reclining gracefully on it. I
• 1:39:40
  can see my reflection in that splendid big mirror hanging on the wall. I
• 1:39:44
  am tall and regal, clad in a gown of trailing white lace, with
• 1:39:47
  a pearl cross on my breast and pearls in my hair. My hair is
• 1:39:51
  of midnight darkness, and my skin is a clear ivory pallor. My name
• 1:39:57
  is Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald. Isn't I can't make that seem real? She danced
• 1:40:03
  up to the little looking glass and peered into it. Her pointed, freckled
• 1:40:06
  face and solemn gray eyes peered back at her. You're only Anne of green
• 1:40:11
  Gables, she said earnestly, and I see you just as you are looking
• 1:40:15
  now whenever I try to imagine I'm the lady Cordelia. But it's a million
• 1:40:18
  times nicer to be Anne of green Gables than Anne of nowhere in particular,
• 1:40:23
  isn't it. She bent forward, kissed her reflection affectionately, and betook herself
• 1:40:28
  to the open window. Dear snow Queen, good afternoon, and good afternoon,
• 1:40:32
  dear Birch's down in the hollow, and good afternoon, dear gray House
• 1:40:36
  up on the hill. I wonder if Diana is to be my bosom friend.
• 1:40:40
  I hope she will, and I shall love her very much. But
• 1:40:44
  I must never quite forget Katy, Maurice and Violetta. They would feel so
• 1:40:47
  hurt if I did, and I'd hate to hurt anybody's feelings, even a
• 1:40:51
  little bookcase girls or a little echo girls. I must be careful to remember
• 1:40:56
  them and send them a kiss every day. Anne blew a couple of kisses
• 1:41:00
  from her finger tips past the cherry blossoms, and then, with her chin
• 1:41:03
  in her hands, drifted luxuriously out on a sea of day dreams. End
• 1:41:10
  of chapter eight, Chapter nine. Missus Rachel Lynde is properly horrified. Anne
• 1:41:16
  had been a fortnight at green Gables before Missus Lynde arrived to inspect her.
• 1:41:20
  Missus Rachel to do her justice was not to blame for this. A severe
• 1:41:24
  and unseasonable attack of gripp had confined that good lady to her house ever since
• 1:41:28
  the occasion of her last visit to green Gables. Missus Rachel was not often
• 1:41:32
  sick and had a well defined contempt for people who were. But Gripp,
• 1:41:35
  she asserted, was like no other illness on earth and could only be interpreted
• 1:41:40
  as one of the special visitations of Providence. As soon as her doctor allowed
• 1:41:44
  her to put her foot out of doors, she hurried up to Green Gables,
• 1:41:46
  bursting with curiosity to see Matthew and Marilla's orphan, concerning whom all sorts
• 1:41:51
  of stories and suppositions had gone abroad in Avonlea. Anne had made good use
• 1:41:56
  of every waking moment of that fortnight. Already she was a quainted with every
• 1:42:00
  tree and shrub about the place. She had discovered that a lane opened out
• 1:42:03
  below the apple orchard and ran up through a belt of woodland, and she
• 1:42:06
  had explored it to its furthest end, in all its delicious vagaries of brook
• 1:42:11
  and bridge, fur coppice and wild cherry arch, corners thick with fern and
• 1:42:15
  branching byways of maple and mountain ash. She had made friends with the spring
• 1:42:19
  down in the hollow, that wonderful, deep, clear, icy cold spring.
• 1:42:24
  It was set about with smooth red sandstones and rimmed in by great palm
• 1:42:28
  like clumps of water fern, and beyond it was a log bridge over the
• 1:42:31
  brook. That bridge led Anne's dancing feet up over a wooded hill beyond,
• 1:42:36
  where perpetual twilight reigned under the straight, thick growing firs and spruces. The
• 1:42:42
  only flowers there were myriads of delicate June bells, those shyest and sweetest of
• 1:42:46
  woodland blooms, and a few pale aerial starflowers like the spirits of last year's
• 1:42:51
  blossoms. Gossamers glimmered like threads of silver among the trees, and the fur
• 1:42:57
  boughs and tassels seemed to utter friendly speech. All these raptured voyages of exploration
• 1:43:02
  were made in the odd half hours which she was allowed for play. And
• 1:43:05
  Anne talked Matthew and Marilla half death over her discoveries, not that Matthew complained.
• 1:43:12
  To be sure, he listened to it all with a wordless smile of
• 1:43:15
  enjoyment on his face. Marilla permitted the chatter until she found herself becoming too
• 1:43:18
  interested in it, whereupon she always promptly quenched Anne by a curt command to
• 1:43:23
  hold her tongue. Anne was out in the orchard when missus Rachel came wondering
• 1:43:27
  at her own sweet will through the lush, tremulous grasses splashed with ruddy evening
• 1:43:31
  sunshine, so that good lady had an excellent chance to talk her illness fully
• 1:43:35
  over, describing every ache and pulse beat with such evident enjoyment that Marilla thought
• 1:43:41
  even grip must bring its compensations. When details were exhausted, Missus Rachel introduced
• 1:43:45
  the real reason of her call. I have been hearing some surprising things about
• 1:43:49
  you and Matthew. I don't suppose you are any more surprise than I am
• 1:43:54
  myself, said Marilla. I'm getting over my surprise now. It was too
• 1:43:58
  bad. There was such a mistake, said missus Rachel sympathetically. Couldn't you
• 1:44:00
  have sent her back? I suppose we could, but we decided not to.
• 1:44:04
  Matthew took a fancy to her, and I must say I like her
• 1:44:08
  myself, although I admit she has her faults. The house seems a different
• 1:44:12
  place already. She's a real bright little thing. Marilla said, more than
• 1:44:16
  she had intended to say. When she began for she read disapproval in missus
• 1:44:19
  Rachel's expression. It's a great responsibility you've taken on yourself, said that lady,
• 1:44:25
  gloomily, especially when you've never had any experience with children. You don't
• 1:44:29
  know much about her or her real disposition, I suppose, but there's no
• 1:44:32
  guessing how a child like that will turn out. But I don't want to
• 1:44:36
  discourage you. I'm sure, Marilla. I'm not feeling discouraged, was Marilla's
• 1:44:41
  dry response. When I make up my mind to do a thing, it
• 1:44:44
  stays made up. I suppose you'd like to see Anne. I'll call her
• 1:44:46
  in. Anne came running in presently, her face sparkling with the delight of
• 1:44:51
  her orchard rovings, but abashed at finding herself in the unexpected presence of a
• 1:44:56
  stranger, she halted confusedly inside the door. She certainly was an odd looking
• 1:45:00
  little creature. In the short, tight, winsy dress she had worn from
• 1:45:02
  the asylum, below which her thin legs seemed ungracefully long. Her freckles were
• 1:45:08
  more numerous and obtrusive than ever. The wind had ruffled her hatless hair into
• 1:45:12
  over brilliant disorder. It had never looked redder than at that moment. Well,
• 1:45:16
  they didn't pick you for your looks, that's sure and certain, was
• 1:45:19
  Missus Rachel Lynde's emphatic comment. Missus Rachel was one of those delightful and popular
• 1:45:25
  people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favor. She's terrible,
• 1:45:29
  skinny and homely Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have
• 1:45:31
  a look at you, lawful heart? Did any one ever see such freckles
• 1:45:35
  and hair as red as carrots? Come here, child, I say.
• 1:45:40
  Anne came there, but not exactly as Missus Rachel expected. With one bound,
• 1:45:45
  she crossed the kitchen floor and stood before Missus Rachel, her face scarlet
• 1:45:48
  with anger, her lips quivering, and her whole slender form trembling from head
• 1:45:53
  to foot. I hate you, she cried in a choked voice, stamping
• 1:45:58
  her foot on the floor. I hate I hate you, I hate you.
• 1:46:01
  A louder stamp with each assertion of hatred. How dare you call me
• 1:46:05
  skinny and ugly? How dare you say I'm freckled and redheaded? You are
• 1:46:10
  a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman, Anne, exclaimed Marilla in consternation.
• 1:46:15
  But Anne continued to face Missus Rachel undauntedly, head up, eyes blazing,
• 1:46:20
  hands clenched, passionate indignation exhiling from her like an atmosphere. How dare you
• 1:46:26
  say such things about me? She repeated vehemently. How would you like to
• 1:46:30
  have such things set about you? How would you like to be told that
• 1:46:31
  you are fat and clumsy and probably hadn't a spark of imagination in you?
• 1:46:35
  I don't care if I do hurt your feelings by saying so, I hope
• 1:46:39
  I hurt them. You have hurt mine worse than they were ever hurt before,
• 1:46:43
  even by Missus Thomas's intoxicated husband. And I'll never forgive you for it.
• 1:46:46
  Never, never, stamp stamp, did anybody ever see such a temper?
• 1:46:53
  Exclaimed the horrified Missus Rachel. Anne. Go to your room and stay
• 1:46:57
  there until I come up, said Marilla, recovering her powers of speech with
• 1:47:00
  difficulty. Anne, bursting into tears, rushed to the hall door slammed it
• 1:47:05
  until the tins on the porch wall outside rattled in sympathy and fled through the
• 1:47:10
  hall and up the stairs like a whirlwind. A subdued slam above told that
• 1:47:14
  the door of the east gable had been shut with equal vehemence. Well,
• 1:47:18
  I don't envy you your job bringing that up, Marilla, said Missus Rachel,
• 1:47:23
  with unspeakable solemnity. Marilla opened her lips to say she knew not what
• 1:47:28
  of apology or deprecation. What she did say was a surprise to herself then
• 1:47:31
  and ever afterwards. You shouldn't have twitted her about her looks, Rachel,
• 1:47:36
  Marilla Cuthbert, you don't mean to say that you are upholding her in such
• 1:47:40
  a terrible display of temper as we've just seen, demanded Missus Rachel indignantly.
• 1:47:45
  No, said Marilla slowly. I'm not trying to excuse her. She's been
• 1:47:49
  very naughty, and I'll have to give her a talking to about it,
• 1:47:53
  but we must make allowances for her. She's never been taught what is right,
• 1:47:57
  and you were too hard on her, Rachel. Marilla could not help
• 1:48:00
  tacking on that last sentence, although she was again surprised at herself for doing
• 1:48:04
  it, Missus Rachel got up with an air of offended dignity. Well,
• 1:48:10
  I see that I'll have to be very careful what I say after this,
• 1:48:13
  Marilla, since the fine feelings of orphans brought from goodness knows where have to
• 1:48:16
  be considered before anything else. Oh no, I'm not vexed. Don't worry
• 1:48:21
  yourself. I'm too sorry for you to leave any room for anger. In
• 1:48:25
  my mind. You'll have your own troubles with that child. But if you'll
• 1:48:29
  take my advice, which I suppose you won't do, although I've brought up
• 1:48:31
  ten children and buried two, you'll do that talking too. You mention with
• 1:48:35
  a fair sized birch switch. I should think that would be the most effective
• 1:48:41
  language for that kind of a child. Her temper matches her hair. I
• 1:48:44
  guess. Well, good evening, Marilla. I hope you'll come down to
• 1:48:47
  see me often as usual, but you can't expect me to visit here again
• 1:48:50
  in a hurry. If I'm liable to be flown at and insulted in such
• 1:48:54
  a fashion, it's something new in my experience. Whereat, missus Rachel,
• 1:48:58
  swept out and away if a fat woman who always waddled could be said to
• 1:49:02
  sweep away. And Marilla, with a very solemn face, betook herself to
• 1:49:06
  the east gable. On the way upstairs, she pondered uneasily as to what
• 1:49:11
  she ought to do. She felt no little dismay over the scene that had
• 1:49:14
  just been enacted. How unfortunate that Anne should have displayed such temper before Missus
• 1:49:18
  Rachel Lynde, of all people. Then Marilla suddenly became aware of an uncomfortable
• 1:49:24
  and rebuking consciousness that she felt more humiliation over this than sorrow over the discovery
• 1:49:29
  of such a serious defect in Anne's disposition. And how was she to punish
• 1:49:32
  her. The amiable suggestion of the birch switch, to the efficiency of which
• 1:49:36
  all of Missus Rachel's own children could have borne smarting testimony, did not appeal
• 1:49:41
  to Marilla. She did not believe she could whip a child. No,
• 1:49:45
  some other method of punishment must be found to bring Anne to a proper realization
• 1:49:48
  of the enormity of her offense. Marilla found Anne face downward on her bed,
• 1:49:54
  crying bitterly, quite oblivious of muddy boots on a clean counterpane, Anne,
• 1:50:00
  she said, not ungently. No answer, Anne, with greater severity,
• 1:50:04
  Get off that bed this minute and listen to what I have to say
• 1:50:08
  to you. Anne squirmed off the bed and sat rigidly on a chair beside
• 1:50:12
  it, her face swollen and tear stained, and her eyes fixed stubbornly on
• 1:50:15
  the floor. This is a nice way for you to behave, Anne.
• 1:50:19
  Aren't you ashamed of yourself? She hadn't any right to call me ugly and
• 1:50:24
  red headed, retorted Anne, evasive and defiant. You hadn't any right to
• 1:50:28
  fly into such a fury and talk the way you did to her. Anne,
• 1:50:30
  I was ashamed of you, thoroughly ashamed of you. I wanted you
• 1:50:34
  to behave nicely to missus Lynde, and instead of that, you have disgraced
• 1:50:38
  me. I'm sure I don't know why you should lose your tempered like that
• 1:50:42
  just because Missus Lynde said you were red haired and homely. You say it
• 1:50:45
  yourself often enough. Oh, but there's such a difference between saying a thing
• 1:50:48
  yourself and hearing other people say it, wailed Anne. You may know a
• 1:50:53
  thing is so, but you can't help hoping other people don't quite think it
• 1:50:57
  is. I suppose you think I have an awful temper, but I couldn't
• 1:51:00
  help it. When she said those things, something just rose right up in
• 1:51:03
  me and choked me. I had to fly out at her. Well,
• 1:51:08
  you made a fine exhibition of yourself, I must say, missus Lynde will
• 1:51:11
  have a nice story to tell about you everywhere, and she'll tell it too.
• 1:51:15
  It was a dreadful thing for you to lose your temper like that,
• 1:51:16
  Anne. Just imagine how you would feel if somebody told you to your face
• 1:51:20
  that you were skinny and ugly, pleaded Anne tearfully. An old remembrance suddenly
• 1:51:27
  rose up before Marilla. She had been a very small child when she had
• 1:51:30
  heard one aunt say of her to another, what a pity she is,
• 1:51:32
  such a dark, homely little thing. Marilla was every day of fifty before
• 1:51:38
  the sting had gone out of that memory. I don't say that I think
• 1:51:41
  missus Lynde was exactly right in saying what she did to you, Anne.
• 1:51:44
  She admitted, in a softer tone, Rachel is too outspoken, But that
• 1:51:47
  is no excuse for such behavior on your part. She was a stranger and
• 1:51:50
  an elderly person, and my visitor. All three very good reasons why you
• 1:51:55
  should have been respectful to her. You were rude and saucy, and Marilla
• 1:51:59
  had ation of punishment. You must go to her and tell her you are
• 1:52:02
  very sorry for your bad temper and ask her to forgive you. I can
• 1:52:06
  never do that, said Anne determinedly and darkly. You can punish me in
• 1:52:11
  any way you like, Marilla. You can shut me up in a dark,
• 1:52:14
  damp dungeon inhabited by snakes and toads and feed me only on bread and
• 1:52:17
  water, and I shall not complain. But I cannot ask missus Lynde to
• 1:52:21
  forgive me. We are not in the habit of shutting people up in dark,
• 1:52:26
  damp dungeons, said Marilla dryly, especially as they're rather scarce in Avonlea.
• 1:52:30
  But apologize to missus Lynde. You must and shall, and you'll stay
• 1:52:34
  here in your room until you can tell me you're willing to do it.
• 1:52:38
  I shall have to stay here forever, then, said Anne mournfully, because
• 1:52:42
  I can't tell Missus Lynde I'm sorry I said those things to her. How
• 1:52:45
  can I I'm not sorry, I'm sorry I've vexed you, but I'm glad
• 1:52:49
  I told her just what I did. It was a great satisfaction. I
• 1:52:54
  can't say I'm sorry when I'm not, can I I can't even imagine I'm
• 1:52:58
  sorry. Perhaps You're imagination will be in better working order by the morning,
• 1:53:01
  said Marilla, rising to depart. You'll have the night to think over your
• 1:53:05
  conduct in and come to a better frame of mind. You said you would
• 1:53:09
  try to be a very good girl if we kept you at Green Gables,
• 1:53:12
  but I must say it hasn't seemed very much like it this evening. Leaving
• 1:53:15
  this Parthian shaft to wrangle in Anne's stormy bosom, Marilla descended to the kitchen
• 1:53:20
  grievously troubled in mind and vexed in soul. She was as angry with herself
• 1:53:26
  as with Anne, because whenever she recalled Missus Rachel's dumbfounded countenance, her lips
• 1:53:30
  twitched with amusement, and she felt a most reprehensible desire to laugh. End
• 1:53:36
  of chapter nine, Chapter ten, Anne's apology. Marilla said nothing to Matthew
• 1:53:44
  about the affair that evening, but when Anne proved still refractory the next morning,
• 1:53:47
  an explanation had to be made to account for her absence from the breakfast
• 1:53:51
  table, Marilla told Matthew the whole story, taking pains to impress him with
• 1:53:56
  a due sense of the enormity of Anne's behavior. It's a good thing Rachel
• 1:54:00
  Lynde got a calling down. She's a meddlesome old gossip, was Matthew's consolatory
• 1:54:04
  rejoinder. Matthew Cuthbert. I'm astonished at you. You know that Anne's behavior
• 1:54:10
  was dreadful, and yet you take her part. I suppose you'll be saying
• 1:54:14
  next that she oughtn't to be punished at all. Well, now, no,
• 1:54:18
  not exactly, said Matthew uneasily. I reckon she ought to be punished
• 1:54:24
  a little, But don't be too hard on her. Marilla recollect she hasn't
• 1:54:28
  ever had any one to teach her ride. You're you're going to give her
• 1:54:31
  something to eat, aren't you? When did you ever hear me of starving
• 1:54:35
  people into good behavior? Demanded Marilla indignantly. She'll have her meals regular,
• 1:54:41
  and I'll carry them up to her myself, but she'll stay up there until
• 1:54:44
  she's willing to apologize to missus Lynde. And that's final, Matthew. Breakfast,
• 1:54:49
  dinner, and supper were very silent meals for Anne still remained obdurate.
• 1:54:55
  After each meal, Marilla carried a well filled tray to the east gable and
• 1:54:59
  brought it down later on, not noticeably depleted. Matthew eyed its last descent
• 1:55:03
  with a troubled eye. Had Anne eaten anything at all? When Marilla went
• 1:55:10
  out that evening to bring the cows from the back pasture, Matthew, who
• 1:55:13
  had been hanging about the barns and watching, slipped into the house with the
• 1:55:16
  air of a burglar and crept upstairs. As a general thing, Matthew gravitated
• 1:55:21
  between the kitchen and the little bedroom off the hall, where he slept.
• 1:55:25
  Once in a while, he ventured uncomfortably into the parlor or sitting room when
• 1:55:29
  the minister came to tea, but he had never been upstairs in his own
• 1:55:31
  house since the spring he helped Marilla paper the spare bedroom, and that was
• 1:55:35
  four years ago. He tiptoed along the hall and stood for several minutes outside
• 1:55:40
  the door of the east gable before he summoned courage to tap on it with
• 1:55:43
  his fingers, and then opened the door to peep in. Anne was sitting
• 1:55:47
  on the yellow chair by the window, gazing mournfully out into the garden.
• 1:55:51
  Very small and unhappy, she looked, and Matthew's heart smote him. He
• 1:55:57
  softly closed the door and tiptoed over to her. Anne, he whispered,
• 1:56:00
  as if afraid of being overheard, How are you making it, Anne,
• 1:56:05
  Anne smiled wanly. Pretty well, I imagine a good deal, and that
• 1:56:11
  helps to pass the time. Of course, it's rather lonesome, but then
• 1:56:15
  I may as well get used to that. Anne smiled again, bravely,
• 1:56:19
  facing the long years of solitary imprisonment before her. Matthew recollected that he must
• 1:56:26
  say what he had come to say without loss of time, lest Marilla return
• 1:56:29
  prematurely. Well, now, Anne, don't you think you'd better do it
• 1:56:33
  and have it over with? He whispered. It'll have to be done sooner
• 1:56:36
  or later, you know, for Marilla's a dreadful, determined woman. Dreadful
• 1:56:42
  determined, Anne, do it right off, I say, and have it
• 1:56:45
  over Do you mean apologize to missus lynde Yes, I apologize, that's the
• 1:56:50
  very word, said Matthew eagerly. Just smooth it over, so to speak.
• 1:56:55
  That's what I was trying to get at. I suppose I could do
• 1:56:58
  it to oblige to you, said Anne thoughtfully. It would be true enough
• 1:57:01
  to say I'm sorry, because I am sorry. Now. I wasn't a
• 1:57:05
  bit sorry last night. I was mad clear through, and I stayed mad
• 1:57:10
  all night. I know I did, because I woke up three times,
• 1:57:13
  and I was just furious every time. But this morning it was over.
• 1:57:17
  I wasn't in a temper any more, and it left a dreadful sort of
• 1:57:20
  goneness too. I felt so ashamed of myself. But I just couldn't think
• 1:57:27
  of going and telling missus Lynde, so it would be so humiliating. I
• 1:57:31
  made up my mind i'd stay shut up here forever rather than do that.
• 1:57:35
  But still, i'd do anything for you if you really want me to.
• 1:57:40
  Well, now, of course I do. It's terrible lonesome downstairs without you.
• 1:57:45
  Just go and smooth things over. That's a good girl, Very well,
• 1:57:49
  said Anne resignedly. I'll tell Marilla as soon as she comes in.
• 1:57:54
  I've repented, that's right, that's right, Anne, But don't tell Marilla
• 1:57:58
  I said anything about it. She might think I was putting my oar in,
• 1:58:01
  and I promised not to do that. Wild horses won't drag the secret
• 1:58:05
  from me, promised Anne solemnly. How would wild horses drag a secret from
• 1:58:11
  a person anyhow? But Matthew was gone. Scared at his own success,
• 1:58:15
  he fled hastily to the remotest corner of the horse pasture, lest Marilla should
• 1:58:19
  suspect what he had been up to. Marilla herself, upon her return to
• 1:58:23
  the house, was agreeably surprised to hear a plaintive voice calling Marilla over the
• 1:58:28
  banisters. Well, she said, going into the hall, I'm sorry I
• 1:58:32
  lost my temper and said rude things, and I'm willing to go and tell
• 1:58:35
  missus Lynde so very well. Marilla's crispness gave no sign of her relief.
• 1:58:42
  She had been wondering what under the canopy she should do if Anne did not
• 1:58:45
  give in. I'll take you down after milking accordingly, After milking the hold,
• 1:58:49
  Marilla and Anne walking down the lane, the former erect and triumphant,
• 1:58:54
  the latter drooping and dejected. But half way down, Anne's dejection vanished,
• 1:58:59
  as if by enchantment. She lifted her head and stepped lightly along, her
• 1:59:02
  eyes fixed on the sunset sky and an air of subdued exhilaration about her.
• 1:59:09
  Marilla beheld the change disapprovingly. This was no meek penitent such as it behooved
• 1:59:14
  her to take into the presence of the offended Missus Lynde. What are you
• 1:59:17
  thinking of, Anne, she asked sharply, I am imagining out what I
• 1:59:20
  must say to missus Lynde, answered Anne dreamily. This was satisfactory, or
• 1:59:27
  should have been so. But Marilla could not rid herself of the notion that
• 1:59:30
  something in her scheme of punishment was going askew. Anne had no business to
• 1:59:34
  look. So rapt and radiant, rapped and radiant, Anne continued until they
• 1:59:40
  were in the very presence of Missus Lynde, who was sitting knitting by her
• 1:59:43
  kitchen window. Then the radiance vanished. Mournful penitence appeared on every feature.
• 1:59:48
  Before a word was spoken, Anne suddenly went down on her knees before the
• 1:59:53
  astonished Missus Rachel and held out her hands beseechingly. Oh, Missus Lynde,
• 1:59:58
  I am so extremely sorry, she said, with a quiver in her voice.
• 2:00:01
  I could never express all my sorrow. No, not if I used
• 2:00:05
  up a whole dictionary. You must just imagine it, I behaved, terribly
• 2:00:10
  to you, and I've disgraced the dear friends Matthew and Marilla who have let
• 2:00:15
  me stay at Green Gables. Although I'm not a boy, I'm a dreadfully
• 2:00:17
  wicked and ungrateful girl, and I deserve to be punished and cast out by
• 2:00:21
  respectable people forever. It was very wicked of me to fly into a temper
• 2:00:26
  because you told me the truth. It was the truth. Every word you
• 2:00:29
  said was true. My hair is red and I'm freckled and skinny and ugly.
• 2:00:32
  What I said to you was true too, But I shouldn't have said
• 2:00:35
  it. Oh, missus Lynde, please please forgive me. If you refuse,
• 2:00:40
  it will be a lifelong sorrow to me. You wouldn't like to inflict
• 2:00:43
  a lifelong sorrow and a poor little orphan girl, would you, even if
• 2:00:46
  she had a dreadful temper? Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't. Please say
• 2:00:49
  you forgive me, Missus Lynde. Anne clasped her hands together, bowed her
• 2:00:54
  head, and waited for the word of judgment. There was no mistaking her
• 2:00:58
  sincerity. It breathed in every tone of her voice. Both Marilla and Missus
• 2:01:02
  Lynde recognized its unmistakable ring. But the former understood and dismay that Anne was
• 2:01:08
  actually enjoying her valley of humiliation, was reveling in the thoroughness of her abasement.
• 2:01:14
  Where was the wholesome punishment upon which she, Marilla had plumed herself.
• 2:01:18
  Anne had turned it into a species of positive pleasure. Good missus Lynde,
• 2:01:23
  not being overburdened with perception, did not see this. She only perceived that
• 2:01:28
  Anne had made a very thorough apology, and all resentment vanished from her.
• 2:01:31
  Kindly, if somewhat officious heart. There there, get up, child,
• 2:01:36
  she said, heartily. Of course I forgive you. I guess I was
• 2:01:40
  a little too hard on you anyway, But I'm such an outspoken person.
• 2:01:44
  You just mustn't mind me. That's what it can't be denied. Your hair
• 2:01:46
  as terrible red, But I knew a girl once went to school with her,
• 2:01:50
  in fact, whose hair was every mite as red as yours when she
• 2:01:54
  was young, but when she grew up it darkened to a real handsome auburn.
• 2:01:58
  I wouldn't be a mite surprise if yours did too. Not a mite,
• 2:02:01
  oh, missus Lynde. Anne drew a long breath as she rose to
• 2:02:05
  her feet. You have given me a hope. I shall always feel that
• 2:02:10
  you are a benefactor. Oh, I could endure anything if I only thought
• 2:02:14
  my hair would be a handsome auburn when I grew up. It would be
• 2:02:16
  so much easier to be good if one's hair was a handsome auburn, don't
• 2:02:20
  you think? And now, may I go out into your garden and sit
• 2:02:24
  on that bench under the apple trees while you and Marilla are talking. There's
• 2:02:28
  so much more scope for imagination out there. Laws. Yes, run along,
• 2:02:31
  child, and you can pick a bouquet of them white June lilies over
• 2:02:34
  in the corner if you like. As the door closed behind Anne, missus
• 2:02:39
  Lynde got briskly up to light a lamp. She's a real odd little thing.
• 2:02:43
  Take this chair, Marilla. It's easier than the one you've got.
• 2:02:45
  I just keep that for the hired boy to sit on. Yes, she
• 2:02:48
  certainly is an odd child, but there is something kind of taking about her.
• 2:02:53
  After all. I don't feel so surprised at you and Matthew keeping her
• 2:02:56
  as I did, nor so sorry for you either. She made her all
• 2:03:00
  right. Of course, she has a queer way of expressing herself. A
• 2:03:03
  little too well, too kind of forcible, you know, But she'll likely
• 2:03:08
  get over that now that she's come to live among civilized folks. And then
• 2:03:12
  her temper's pretty quick, I guess. But there's one comfort. A child
• 2:03:15
  that has a quick temper. Just blaze up and cool down. Ain't never
• 2:03:19
  likely to be sly or deceitful. Preserve me from a sly child, That's
• 2:03:24
  what on the whole, Marilla, I kind of like her. When Marilla
• 2:03:28
  went home, Anne came out of the fragrant twilight of the orchard with a
• 2:03:30
  sheaf of white narcissi in her hands. I apologized pretty well, didn't I,
• 2:03:35
  she said proudly as they went down the lane. I thought, since
• 2:03:39
  I had to do it, I might as well do it thoroughly. You
• 2:03:42
  did it thoroughly, all right enough, was Marilla's comment. Marilla was dismayed
• 2:03:45
  at finding herself inclined to laugh over the recollection. She had also an uneasy
• 2:03:50
  feeling that she ought to scold Anne for apologizing so well, but then that
• 2:03:55
  was ridiculous. She compromised with her conscience by saying severely, I hope you
• 2:04:00
  won't have occasion to make many more such apologies. I hope you'll try to
• 2:04:02
  control your temper now, Anne. That wouldn't be so hard if people wouldn't
• 2:04:06
  twit me about my looks, said Anne with a sigh. I don't get
• 2:04:11
  cross about other things, but I'm so tired of being twitted about my hair,
• 2:04:15
  and it just makes me boil right over. Do you suppose my hair
• 2:04:18
  will really be a handsome auburn when I grow up? You shouldn't think so
• 2:04:23
  much about your looks, Anne, I'm afraid you are a very vain little
• 2:04:26
  girl. How can I be vain when I know I'm homely protested? Anne?
• 2:04:30
  I love pretty things, and I hate to look in the glass and
• 2:04:32
  see something that isn't pretty. It makes me feel so sorrowful, just as
• 2:04:36
  I feel when I look at any ugly thing. I pity it because it
• 2:04:40
  isn't beautiful. Handsome is as handsome does quoted Marilla. I've had that said
• 2:04:45
  to me before, but I have my doubts about it, remarked skeptical Anne,
• 2:04:48
  sniffing at her Narsissy. Oh, aren't these flowers sweet? It was
• 2:04:53
  lovely of missus Lynde to give them to me. I have no hard feelings
• 2:04:57
  against missus Lynde. Now it gives you a lovely comfortable feeling to apologize and
• 2:05:00
  be forgiven, doesn't It? Aren't the stars bright tonight? If you could
• 2:05:05
  live in a star, which one would you pick? I'd like that lovely,
• 2:05:09
  clear, big one away over there, above that dark hill. Anne,
• 2:05:13
  do hold your tongue, said Marilla, thoroughly worn out, trying to
• 2:05:15
  follow the gyrations of Anne's thoughts. Anne said no more. Until they turned
• 2:05:20
  into their own lane. A little gipsy wind came down it to meet them,
• 2:05:25
  laden with the spicy perfume of young dew wet ferns. Far up in
• 2:05:29
  the shadows, a cheerful light gleamed out through the trees from the kitchen at
• 2:05:32
  green Gables. Anne suddenly came close to Marilla and slipped her hand into the
• 2:05:36
  older woman's hard palm. It's lovely to be going home, and no,
• 2:05:42
  it's home, she said. I love green Gables already, and I never
• 2:05:45
  loved any place before, No place ever seemed like home. Oh Marilla,
• 2:05:49
  I'm so happy I could pray right now and not find it a bit hard.
• 2:05:54
  Something warm and pleasant welled up in Marilla's heart at a touch of that
• 2:05:58
  thin little hand. In her own, a throb of the maternity she had
• 2:06:01
  missed. Perhaps its very unaccustomedness and sweetness disturbed her. She hastened to restore
• 2:06:06
  her sensations to their normal calm by inculcating a moral. If you'll be a
• 2:06:11
  good girl, you'll always be happy, Anne, and you should never find
• 2:06:15
  it hard to say your prayers. Saying one's prayers isn't exactly the same thing
• 2:06:19
  as praying, said Anne meditatively. But I'm going to imagine that I'm the
• 2:06:24
  wind that is blowing up there in those tree tops. When I get tired
• 2:06:28
  of the trees, I'll imagine I'm gently waving down here in the ferns,
• 2:06:31
  and then I'll fly over to missus Lynde's garden and set the flowers dancing.
• 2:06:35
  And then I'll go with one great swoop over the clover field. And then
• 2:06:40
  I'll blow over the lake of shining waters and ripple it all up into little
• 2:06:44
  sparkling waves. Oh, there's so much scope for imagination in a wind.
• 2:06:47
  So I'll not talk any more just now, Marilla. Thanks be to Goodness
• 2:06:51
  for that, breathed Marilla, in devout relief, end of chapter ten,
• 2:06:58
  Chapter eleven, Anne's in p ESSI of Sunday School. Well, how do
• 2:07:02
  you like them? Said Marilla. Anne was standing in the gable room,
• 2:07:06
  looking solemnly at three new dresses spread out on the bed. One was of
• 2:07:11
  snuffy colored gingham, which Marilla had been tempted to buy from a peddler the
• 2:07:15
  preceding summer because it looked so serviceable. One was of black and white checkered
• 2:07:18
  satine, which she had picked up at a bargain counter in the winter,
• 2:07:23
  and one was a stiff print of an ugly blue shade, which she had
• 2:07:26
  purchased that week at a carmody store. She had made them up herself,
• 2:07:30
  and they were all made alike, plain skirts, fulled tightly to plain waists,
• 2:07:33
  with sleeves as plain as waist and skirt and tight as sleeves could be.
• 2:07:38
  I'll imagine that I like them, said Anne soberly. I don't want
• 2:07:43
  you to imagine it, said Marilla, offended. Oh I can see you
• 2:07:45
  don't like the dresses. What is the matter with them? Aren't they neat
• 2:07:48
  and clean and new? Yes? Then why don't you like them? They're
• 2:07:55
  they're not pretty, said Anne reluctantly. Pretty Marie Less sniffed, I didn't
• 2:08:01
  trouble my head about getting pretty dresses for you. I don't believe in pampering
• 2:08:05
  vanity, Anne. I'll tell you that right off. Those dresses are good,
• 2:08:07
  sensible, serviceable dresses, without any frills or furbelows about them, and
• 2:08:13
  they're all you'll get this summer. The brown Gingham and the blueprint will do
• 2:08:16
  you for school when you begin to go. The Satine is for church and
• 2:08:20
  Sunday school. I'll expect you to keep them neat and clean and not to
• 2:08:22
  tear them. I should think you'd be grateful to get most anything after those
• 2:08:26
  skimpy wincy things you've been wearing. Oh I am grateful, protested Anne,
• 2:08:31
  But I'd be ever so much gratefuller if if you'd made just one of them
• 2:08:35
  with puffed sleeves. Puffed sleeves are so fashionable now. It would give me
• 2:08:39
  such a thrill, Marilla, just to wear a dress with puffed sleeves.
• 2:08:43
  Well, you'll have to do without your thrill. I hadn't any material to
• 2:08:46
  waste on puffed sleeves. I think they're ridiculous looking things. Anyhow. I
• 2:08:50
  prefer the plain, sensible ones, but I'd rather look ridiculous, when everybody
• 2:08:56
  else does than plain and sensible all by myself, persisted Anne. Wornfully trust
• 2:09:01
  you for that. Well, hang those dresses carefully up in your closet,
• 2:09:03
  and then sit down and learn the Sunday school lesson. I got a quarterly
• 2:09:07
  from mister Bell for you, and you'll go to Sunday school tomorrow, said
• 2:09:11
  Marilla, disappearing downstairs in high dudgeon. Anne clasped her hands and looked at
• 2:09:16
  the dresses. I did hope there would be a white one with puffed sleeves,
• 2:09:20
  she whispered disconsolately. I prayed for one, but I didn't much expect
• 2:09:24
  it. On that account. I didn't suppose God would have time to bother
• 2:09:28
  about a little orphan girl's dress. I knew I'd just have to depend on
• 2:09:31
  Marilla for it. Well, fortunately, I can imagine that one of them
• 2:09:35
  is of snow white muslin with lovely lace frills and three puffed sleeves. The
• 2:09:39
  next morning, warnings of a sick headache prevented Marilla from going to Sunday school
• 2:09:43
  with Anne. You'll have to go down and call for missus Lynde Anne,
• 2:09:48
  she said, she'll see that you get into the right class now, mind
• 2:09:50
  you behave yourself properly, stay to preaching afterwards, and ask missus Lynde to
• 2:09:54
  show you our pew. Here's a cent for collection. Don't stare at people,
• 2:09:58
  and don't fidget. I shall expect you to tell me the text when
• 2:10:01
  you come home. Anne started off irreproachably hoorrayed in the stiff black and white
• 2:10:05
  satine, which, while decent as regards length and certainly not open to the
• 2:10:09
  charge of skimpiness, contrived to emphasize every corner and angle of her thin figure.
• 2:10:15
  Her hat was a little flat, glossy New sailor, the extreme plainness
• 2:10:18
  of which had likewise much disappointed Anne, who had permitted herself secret visions of
• 2:10:24
  ribbon and flowers. The latter, however, were supplied before Anne reached the
• 2:10:26
  main road. For being confronted half way down the lane with a golden frenzy
• 2:10:31
  of wind stirred buttercups and a glory of wild roses, Anne promptly and liberally
• 2:10:35
  garlanded her hat with a heavy wreath of them. Whatever other people might have
• 2:10:39
  thought of the result, it satisfied Anne, and she tripped gayly down the
• 2:10:43
  road, holding her ruddy head with its decoration of pink and yellow, very
• 2:10:48
  proudly. When she had reached missus Lynde's house, she found that lady gone
• 2:10:52
  nothing. Daunted, Anne proceeded onward to the church. Alone. In the
• 2:10:56
  porch, she found a crowd of little girls, all more or less gaily
• 2:10:58
  attired in whites and blues and pinks, and all staring with curious eyes at
• 2:11:03
  this stranger in their midst with her extraordinary head adornment avonlea. Little girls had
• 2:11:07
  already heard queer stories about Anne. Missus Lynde said she had an awful temper.
• 2:11:13
  Jerry Butte, the hired boy at Green Gables, said she talked all
• 2:11:16
  the time to herself or to the trees and flowers, like a crazy girl.
• 2:11:20
  They looked at her and whispered to each other behind their quarterlies. Nobody
• 2:11:22
  made any friendly advances then or later on, when the opening exercises were over
• 2:11:28
  and Anne found herself in Miss Rogerson's class. Miss Rogerson was a middle aged
• 2:11:31
  lady who had taught a Sunday school class for twenty years. Her method of
• 2:11:35
  teaching was to ask the printed questions from the quarterly and looked sternly over its
• 2:11:39
  edge at the particular little girl she thought ought to answer the question. She
• 2:11:43
  looked very often at Anne, and Anne, thanks to Marilla's drilling, answered
• 2:11:46
  promptly. But it may be questioned if she understood very much about either question
• 2:11:52
  or answer. She did not think she liked miss Rogerson, and she felt
• 2:11:56
  very miserable. Every other little girl in the class had puffed sleeve. Anne
• 2:12:00
  felt that life was really not worth living without puffed sleeves. Well, how
• 2:12:05
  did you like Sunday school? Marilla wanted to know. When Anne came home,
• 2:12:09
  her reef having faded, Anne had discarded it in the lane, so
• 2:12:11
  Marilla was spared the knowledge of that for a time. I didn't like it
• 2:12:15
  a bit. It was horrid, Anne surely, said Marilla, rebukingly.
• 2:12:20
  Anne sat down on the rocker, with a long sigh, kissed one of
• 2:12:22
  Bonnie's leaves and waved her hand to a blossoming fuchia. They might have been
• 2:12:26
  lonesome while I was away, she explained. And now about the Sunday school,
• 2:12:31
  I behaved well, just as you told me, missus. Lynde was
• 2:12:33
  gone, but I went right on myself. I went into the church with
• 2:12:37
  a lot of other little girls, and I sat in the corner of a
• 2:12:39
  pew by the window. While the opening exercises went on, mister Bell made
• 2:12:43
  an awfully long prayer. I would have been dreadfully tired before he got through
• 2:12:48
  if I hadn't been sitting by that window. But it looked right out on
• 2:12:50
  the lake of Shining Waters. So I just gazed at that and imagined all
• 2:12:54
  sorts of splendid things. You shouldn't have done anything of the sort. You
• 2:12:58
  should have listened to mister Bell. But he wasn't talking to me, protested
• 2:13:01
  Anne. He was talking to God, and he didn't seem to be very
• 2:13:05
  much interested in it either. I think he thought God was too far off.
• 2:13:09
  Though. There was a long row of white birches hanging over the lake,
• 2:13:11
  and the sunshine fell down through them, way way down deep into the
• 2:13:16
  water. Oh, Marilla, it was like a beautiful dream. It gave
• 2:13:20
  me a thrill, and I just said thank you for it God, two
• 2:13:22
  or three times, not out loud, I hope, said Marilla anxiously.
• 2:13:26
  Oh no, just under my breath. Well, mister Bell did get through
• 2:13:31
  at last, and they told me to go into the class room with miss
• 2:13:33
  Rogerson's class. There were nine other girls in it, they all had puffed
• 2:13:37
  sleeves. I tried to imagine mine were puffed too, but I couldn't.
• 2:13:41
  Why couldn't I It was as easy as could be to imagine they were puffed
• 2:13:43
  when I was alone in the east gable, but it was awfully hard there
• 2:13:46
  among the others who had really truly puffs. You shouldn't have been thinking about
• 2:13:50
  your sleeves in Sunday school. You should have been attending to the lesson.
• 2:13:54
  I hope you knew it. Oh, yes, And I answered a lot
• 2:13:56
  of questions. Miss Rogerson asked for so many. I don't think it was
• 2:14:01
  fair for her to do all the asking. There were lots I wanted to
• 2:14:03
  ask her, but I didn't like to because I didn't think she was a
• 2:14:07
  kindred spirit. Then all the other little girls were cited a paraphrase. She
• 2:14:11
  asked me if I knew any I told her I didn't, but I could
• 2:14:13
  recite the Dog and his Master's Grave if she liked. That's in the Third
• 2:14:18
  Royal Reader. It isn't a really truly religious piece of poetry, but it's
• 2:14:22
  so sad and melancholy that it might as well be. She said it wouldn't
• 2:14:26
  do, And she told me to learn the nineteenth paraphrase for next Sunday.
• 2:14:28
  I read it over in church afterwards, and it's splendid. There were two
• 2:14:31
  lines in particular that just thrill me quick as the slaughtered squadrons fell in Midian's
• 2:14:37
  evil day. I don't know what squadrons means, nor Midian either, but
• 2:14:41
  it sounds so tragical. I can hardly wait until next Sunday to recite it.
• 2:14:46
  I'll practice it all the week after Sunday school. I asked miss Rogerson,
• 2:14:50
  because missus Lynde was too far away to show me your pew. I
• 2:14:54
  sat just as still as I could, and then text was Revelations, third
• 2:14:56
  chapter, second and third verses. It was a very long text. If
• 2:15:01
  I was a minister, i'd picked the short, snappy ones. The sermon
• 2:15:03
  was awfully long, too. I suppose the minister had to match it to
• 2:15:07
  the text. I didn't think he was a bit interesting. The trouble with
• 2:15:11
  him seems to be that he hasn't enough imagination. I didn't listen to him
• 2:15:15
  very much. I just let my thoughts run, and I thought of the
• 2:15:18
  most surprising things. Marilla felt helplessly that all this should be sternly reproved,
• 2:15:24
  but she was hampered by the undeniable fact that some of the things Anne had
• 2:15:28
  said, especially about the minister's sermons and mister Bell's prayers, were what she
• 2:15:31
  herself had really thought deep down in her heart for years, but had never
• 2:15:35
  given expression to. It almost seemed to her that those secret, unuttered,
• 2:15:39
  critical thoughts had suddenly taken visible and accusing shape and form in the person of
• 2:15:43
  this outspoken morsel of neglected humanity. End of chapter eleven, Chapter twelve,
• 2:15:50
  a solemn vow and promise. It was not until next Friday that Marilla heard
• 2:15:56
  the story of the flower wreathed hat. She came home from Missus Lynde's and
• 2:16:00
  called Anne to account. Anne, Missus Rachel says, you went to church
• 2:16:03
  last Sunday with your hat rigged out ridiculous with roses and buttercups. What on
• 2:16:07
  earth butt you up to such a caper A pretty looking object you must have
• 2:16:11
  been. Oh, I know, pink and yellow aren't becoming to me,
• 2:16:15
  began Anne, becoming fiddlesticks. It was putting flowers on your hat at all,
• 2:16:20
  no matter what color they were, that was ridiculous. You are the
• 2:16:22
  most aggravating child. I don't see why it's any more ridiculous to wear flowers
• 2:16:28
  on your hat than on your dress, protested Anne. Lots of little girls
• 2:16:31
  there had bouquets pinned on their dresses. What's the difference, Marilla was not
• 2:16:35
  to be drawn from the safe concrete into dubious paths of the abstract. Don't
• 2:16:39
  answer me back like that, Anne, It was very silly of you to
• 2:16:43
  do such a thing. Never let me catch you at such a trick again,
• 2:16:46
  missus Rachel says she thought she would sink through the floor when she saw
• 2:16:48
  you come in all rigged out like that. She couldn't get near enough to
• 2:16:52
  tell you to take them off until it was too late. She says.
• 2:16:54
  People talked about it something dreadful. Of course they would think I had no
• 2:16:58
  better sense than to let you go decked out like that. Oh I'm so
• 2:17:01
  sorry, said Anne, tears welling into her eyes. I never thought you'd
• 2:17:05
  mind. The roses and buttercups were so sweet and pretty. I thought they'd
• 2:17:09
  look lovely on my hat. Lots of the little girls had artificial flowers on
• 2:17:13
  their hats. I'm afraid I'm going to be a dreadful trial to you.
• 2:17:16
  Maybe you'd better send me back to the asylum. That would be terrible.
• 2:17:20
  I don't think I could endure it. Most likely I would go into consumption.
• 2:17:24
  I'm so thin as it is, you see, but that would be
• 2:17:26
  better than being a trial to you. Nonsense, said Marilla, vexed at
• 2:17:31
  herself for having made the child cry. I don't want to send you back
• 2:17:35
  to the asylum, I'm sure. All I want is that you should behave
• 2:17:37
  like other little girls and not make yourself ridiculous. Don't cry any more.
• 2:17:41
  I've got some news for you. Diana Barry came home this afternoon. I'm
• 2:17:46
  going up to see if I can borrow a skirt pattern from missus Barry,
• 2:17:48
  and if you like, you can come with me and get acquainted with Diana.
• 2:17:52
  Anne rose to her feet with clasped hands, the tears still glistening on
• 2:17:56
  her cheeks. The dish towel she had been hemming slipped heeded to the floor.
• 2:18:01
  Oh, Marilla, I'm frightened now that it has come. I'm actually
• 2:18:05
  frightened. What if she shouldn't like me? He would be the most tragical
• 2:18:09
  disappointment of my life. Now, don't get into a fluster, and I
• 2:18:13
  do wish you wouldn't use such long words. It sounds so funny in a
• 2:18:16
  little girl. I guess Diana like you well enough. It's her mother you've
• 2:18:20
  got to reckon with. If she doesn't like you, it won't matter how
• 2:18:22
  much Diana does. If she has heard about your outburst to Missus Lynde and
• 2:18:26
  going to church with buttercups round your hat, I don't know what she'll think
• 2:18:31
  of you. You must be polite and well behaved, and don't make any
• 2:18:33
  of your startling speeches for pity's sake. If the child isn't actually trembling,
• 2:18:39
  Anne was trembling. Her face was pale and tense. Oh, Marilla,
• 2:18:43
  you'd be excited too if you were going to meet a little girl you hoped
• 2:18:46
  to be your bosom friend and whose mother mightn't like you, she said,
• 2:18:50
  as she hastened to get her hat. They went over to Orchard Slope by
• 2:18:52
  the short cut, across the brook and up the Furry Hill Grove. Missus
• 2:18:56
  Barry came to the kitchen door in answer to Marilla's. She was a tall,
• 2:19:01
  black eyed, black haired woman with a very resolute mouth. She had
• 2:19:05
  the reputation of being very strict with her children. How do you do,
• 2:19:07
  Marilla, she said, cordially, Come in, and this is the little
• 2:19:11
  girl you have adopted. I suppose, yes, this is Anne, Shirley,
• 2:19:15
  said Marilla, spelled with an e gasped Anne, who tremulous and excited
• 2:19:18
  as she was, was determined there should be no misunderstanding on that important point.
• 2:19:24
  Missus Barry, not hearing or not comprehending, merely shook hand and said
• 2:19:28
  kindly, how are you? I am well in body, although considerably rumpled
• 2:19:31
  up in spirit. Thank you, ma'am, said Anne gravely, then aside
• 2:19:35
  to Marilla in an audible whisper, there wasn't anything startling in that was there.
• 2:19:39
  Marilla Diana was sitting on the sofa reading a book, which she dropped
• 2:19:43
  when the callers entered. She was a very pretty little girl, with her
• 2:19:46
  mother's black eyes and hair and rosy cheeks, and the merry expression which was
• 2:19:50
  her inheritance from her father. This is my little girl, Diana, said,
• 2:19:54
  Missus Barry. Diana, you might take Anne out into the garden and
• 2:19:58
  show her your flowers. It will be better for you than straining your eyes
• 2:20:01
  over that book. She reads entirely too much. This to Marilla as the
• 2:20:05
  little girls went out. And I can't prevent her, for her father aids
• 2:20:09
  and abets her. She's always poring over a book. I'm glad she has
• 2:20:13
  the prospect of a playmate. Perhaps it will take her more out of doors.
• 2:20:16
  Outside in the garden, which was full of mellow sunset lights streaming through
• 2:20:20
  the dark old furs. To the west of it, stood Anne and Diana
• 2:20:24
  gazing bashfully at each other over a clump of gorgeous tiger lilies. The Barry
• 2:20:28
  Garden was a bowery wilderness of flowers which would have delighted Anne's heart at any
• 2:20:33
  time less fraught with destiny. It was encircled by huge old willows and tall
• 2:20:37
  furs, beneath which flourished flowers that loved the shade. Prim Right angled paths,
• 2:20:43
  neatly bordered with clam shells, intersected it like moist red ribbons, and
• 2:20:46
  in the beds between old fashioned flowers ran riot. There were rosy bleeding hearts
• 2:20:52
  and great splendid crimson peonies, white fragrant narcissi and thorny sweet scotch roses,
• 2:20:58
  pink and blue and white columbines, and lilac tinted bouncing bets, clumps of
• 2:21:03
  southern wood and ribbon grass, and mint purple adam and eve daffodils, and
• 2:21:07
  masses of sweet clover, white with its delicate, fragrant feathery sprays scarlet lightning
• 2:21:13
  that shot its fiery lances over prim white musk flowers. A garden. It
• 2:21:18
  was where sunshine lingered, and bees hummed, and winds beguiled into loitering,
• 2:21:22
  purred and rustled. Oh, Diana said Anne, at last, clasping her
• 2:21:26
  hands and speaking almost in a whisper. Oh do you think you can like
• 2:21:30
  me a little enough to be my bosom friend? Diana laughed. Diana always
• 2:21:35
  laughed before she spoke. Why I guess so, she said frankly. I'm
• 2:21:39
  awfully glad you've come to live at Green Gables. It will be jolly to
• 2:21:41
  have somebody to play with. There isn't any other girl who lives near enough
• 2:21:45
  to play with, and I've no sisters big enough. Will you swear to
• 2:21:48
  be my friend forever and ever? Demanded Anne eagerly. Diana looked shocked.
• 2:21:54
  Why it's dreadfully wicked to swear, she said, rebukingly. Oh no,
• 2:21:58
  not my kind of swearing. There are two kinds. You know, I
• 2:22:01
  never heard of but one kind, said Diana. Doubtfully there really is another.
• 2:22:05
  Oh it isn't wicked at all. It just means vowing and promising solemnly.
• 2:22:11
  Well, I don't mind doing that, agreed Diana, relieved. How
• 2:22:13
  do you do it? We must join hands, so said Anne gravely.
• 2:22:18
  It ought to be over running water. We'll just imagine this path is running
• 2:22:22
  water. I'll repeat the oath first, I solemnly swear to be faithful to
• 2:22:26
  my bosom friend Diana Barry, as long as the sun and moon shall endure.
• 2:22:31
  Now you say it and put my name in. Diana repeated the oath
• 2:22:35
  with a laugh, fore and aft. Then she said, you're a queer
• 2:22:37
  girl, Anne. I heard before that you were queer, But I believe
• 2:22:41
  I'm going to like you real well. When Marilla and Anne went home,
• 2:22:45
  Diana went with them as far as the log bridge. The two little girls
• 2:22:48
  walked with their arms about each other. At the brook, they parted with
• 2:22:52
  many promises to spend the next afternoon together. Well did you find Diana Kindred's
• 2:22:56
  spirit, asked Marilla as they went up through the garden of Gables. Oh
• 2:23:01
  yes, sighed Anne. Blissfully unconscious of any sarcasm on Marilla's part. Oh,
• 2:23:05
  Marilla, I'm the happiest girl on Prince Edward Island this very moment.
• 2:23:09
  I assure you. I'll say my prayers with a right good will Tonight.
• 2:23:13
  Diana and I are going to build a playhouse in mister William Bell's Birch Grove
• 2:23:16
  tomorrow. Can I have those broken pieces of china that are out in the
• 2:23:20
  wood shed. Diana's birthdays in February and mine is in March. Don't you
• 2:23:24
  think that is a very strange coincidence. Diana's going to lend me a book
• 2:23:28
  to read, she says, it's perfectly splendid and tremendously exciting. She's going
• 2:23:33
  to show me a place back in the woods where rice lilies grow. Don't
• 2:23:35
  you think Diana has got very soulful eyes. I wish I had soulful eyes.
• 2:23:41
  Diana is going to teach me to sing a song called Nellie in the
• 2:23:43
  Hazel Dell. She's going to give me a picture to put up in my
• 2:23:46
  room. It's a perfectly beautiful picture, she says, A lovely lady in
• 2:23:50
  a pale blue silk dress, A sewing machine agent gave it to her.
• 2:23:54
  I wish I had something to give Diana. I'm an inch taller than Diana,
• 2:23:58
  but she is ever so much fatter. She says she'd like to be
• 2:24:01
  thin, because it's so much more graceful. But I'm afraid she only said
• 2:24:03
  it to soothe my feelings. We're going to the shore some day to gather
• 2:24:07
  shells. We have agreed to call the spring down by the log bridge the
• 2:24:09
  Dryad's Bubble. Isn't that a perfectly elegant name. I've read a story once
• 2:24:15
  about a spring called that. A dryad is sort of a grown up fairy.
• 2:24:18
  I think, well, all I hope is you won't talk Diana to
• 2:24:20
  death, said Marilla. But remember this in all your planning, Anne,
• 2:24:24
  You're not going to play all the time, nor most of it. You'll
• 2:24:28
  have your work to do, and it'll have to be done first. Anne's
• 2:24:31
  cup of happiness was full, and Matthew caused it to overflow. He had
• 2:24:35
  just got home from a trip to the store at Carmody, and he sheepishly
• 2:24:39
  produced a small parcel from his pocket and handed it to Anne with a deprecatory
• 2:24:41
  look. At Marilla, I heard you say you like chocolate. Sweeties.
• 2:24:46
  So I got you some, he said, humph, sniffed Marilla. It'll
• 2:24:50
  ruin her teeth and stomach. There there, child, don't look so dismal.
• 2:24:54
  You can eat those. Since Matthew is gone and got them, he'd
• 2:24:56
  better have brought you peppermints. They're wholesomer. Don't sicken yourself eating all of
• 2:25:00
  them at once. Now. Oh no, indeed I won't, said Anne
• 2:25:03
  eagerly. I'll just eat one to night. Marilla, and I can give
• 2:25:05
  Diana half of them, can't I The other half will taste twice as sweet
• 2:25:09
  to me if I give some to her. It's delightful to think I have
• 2:25:13
  something to give her. I will say it for the child, said Marilla,
• 2:25:16
  when Anne had gone to her gable. She isn't stingy. I am
• 2:25:20
  glad for of all false I detest stinginess in a child. Dear me,
• 2:25:24
  It's only three weeks since she came, and it seems as if she'd been
• 2:25:26
  here always. I can't imagine the place without her. Now, don't be
• 2:25:31
  looking. I told you so, Matthew. That's bad enough in a woman,
• 2:25:33
  but it isn't to be endured in a man. I'm perfectly willing to
• 2:25:37
  own up that I'm glad I consented to keep the child, and that I'm
• 2:25:39
  getting fond of her. But don't you rub it in, Matthew Cuthbert,
• 2:25:43
  end of Chapter twelve, Chapter thirteen, The Delights of Anticipation. It's time
• 2:25:50
  Anne was in to do her sewing, said Marilla, glancing at the clock,
• 2:25:52
  and then out into the yellow august afternoon, where everything drowsed in the
• 2:25:56
  heat. She stayed playing with Diana more than half an hour more, and
• 2:26:00
  I gave her leave to And now she's perched out there on the woodpile talking
• 2:26:03
  to Matthew nineteen to the dozen, when she knows perfectly well she ought to
• 2:26:07
  be at her work, And of course he's listening to her like a perfect
• 2:26:09
  ninny. I never saw such an infatuated man. The more she talks in
• 2:26:13
  the otder of the thing she says, the more he's delighted. Evidently,
• 2:26:16
  Anne, Shirley, you come right in here this minute, do you hear
• 2:26:20
  me? A series of staccato taps on the west window brought Anne flying in
• 2:26:24
  from the yard, eyes shining, cheeks faintly flushed with pink, unbraided hair
• 2:26:28
  streaming behind her in a torrent of brightness. Oh Marilla, she exclaimed breathlessly.
• 2:26:33
  There's going to be a Sunday school picnic next week in mister Harmon Andrew's
• 2:26:37
  field, right near the Lake of Shining Waters, and missus Superintendent Bell and
• 2:26:41
  Missus Rachel Lynde are going to make ice cream. Think of it, Marilla
• 2:26:45
  ice cream? And oh Marilla, can I go to it? Just look
• 2:26:48
  at the clock, if you please? Anne? What time did I tell
• 2:26:50
  you to come in? Two o'clock? But isn't it splendid about the picnic?
• 2:26:54
  Marilla? Please? Can I go? Oh, I've never been to
• 2:26:56
  a picnic. I've dreamed of picnics, but I've never Yes, I'd told
• 2:27:01
  you to come in at two o'clock and it's a quarter to three. I'd
• 2:27:03
  like to know why you didn't obey me. Anne, Why I meant to
• 2:27:07
  Marilla as much as could be, but you've no idea how fascinating idlewild is.
• 2:27:11
  And then of course I had to tell Matthew about the picnic. Matthew
• 2:27:15
  is such a sympathetic listener. Please can I go? You'll have to learn
• 2:27:18
  to resist the fascination of idle whatever you call it. When I tell you
• 2:27:22
  to come in at a certain time. I mean that time, and not
• 2:27:24
  half an hour later. And you needn't stop to discourse with sympathetic listeners on
• 2:27:28
  your way either. As for the picnic, of course you can go.
• 2:27:31
  You're a Sunday school scholar, and it's not likely I'd refuse to let you
• 2:27:35
  go when all the other little girls are going. But but faltered Anne,
• 2:27:39
  Diana says that everybody must take a basket of things to eat. I can't
• 2:27:45
  cook, as you know, Marilla, and and I don't mind going to
• 2:27:48
  a picnic without puff's sleeves so much, but I'd feel terribly humiliated if I
• 2:27:52
  had to go without a basket. It's been preying on my mind ever since
• 2:27:56
  Diana told me, Well, it needn't pray any longer. I'll bag you
• 2:27:58
  a basth. Oh you dear good Marilla. Oh you're so kind to me.
• 2:28:03
  Oh, I'm so much obliged to you. Getting through with her,
• 2:28:07
  oh's, Anne cast herself into Marilla's arms and rapturously kissed her sallow cheek.
• 2:28:11
  It was the first time in her whole life that childish lips had voluntarily touched
• 2:28:16
  Marilla's face. Again, that sudden sensation of startling sweetness thrilled her. She
• 2:28:20
  was secretly vastly pleased at Anne's impulsive caress, which was probably the reason why
• 2:28:24
  she said brusquely, there there, Never mind your kissing nonsense. I'd sooner
• 2:28:30
  see you doing strictly as you're told. As for cooking, I mean to
• 2:28:33
  begin giving you lessons in that some of these days, But you're so feather
• 2:28:37
  brained, Anne. I've been waiting to see if you'd sober down a little
• 2:28:39
  and learn to be steady before I begin. You've got to keep your wits
• 2:28:43
  about you and cooking, and not stop in the middle of things to let
• 2:28:45
  your thoughts rove all over creation. Now get out your patchwork and have your
• 2:28:48
  square done before tea time. I do not like patchwork, said Anne dolefully,
• 2:28:54
  hunting out her work basket and sitting down before a little heap of red
• 2:28:58
  and white diamonds with a sigh. I think some kinds of sewing would be
• 2:29:01
  nice, but there's no scope for imagination in patchwork. It's just one little
• 2:29:05
  seam after another, and you never seem to be getting anywhere. But of
• 2:29:09
  course I'd rather be Anne of Green Gables sewing patchwork than Anne of any other
• 2:29:13
  place with nothing to do but play. I wish time went as quick sewing
• 2:29:16
  patches as it does when I'm playing with Diana. Though, Oh, we
• 2:29:20
  do have such elegant times, Marilla. I have to furnish most of the
• 2:29:24
  imagination, but I'm well able to do that. Diana is simply perfect in
• 2:29:28
  every other way. You know that little piece of land across the brook that
• 2:29:31
  runs up between our farm and mister Barry's. It belongs to mister William Bell.
• 2:29:35
  And right in the corner there is a little ring of white birch trees,
• 2:29:39
  the most romantic spot, Marilla. Diana and I have our play house
• 2:29:43
  there. We call it Idle Wild. Isn't that a poetical name? I
• 2:29:46
  assure you. It took me some time to think it out. I stayed
• 2:29:50
  awake nearly a whole night before I invented it. Then, just as I
• 2:29:54
  was dropping off to sleep, it came like an inspiration. Diana was enraptured
• 2:29:58
  when she heard it. We've got our house fixed up elegantly. You must
• 2:30:01
  come and see it, Marilla, won't you. We have great big stones
• 2:30:05
  all covered with moss for seats, and boards from tree to tree for shelves,
• 2:30:09
  and we have all our dishes on them. Of course they're all broken,
• 2:30:11
  but it's the easiest thing in the world to imagine that they're a whole.
• 2:30:15
  There is a piece of a plate with a spray of red and yellow
• 2:30:18
  ivy on it that is especially beautiful. We keep it in the parlor,
• 2:30:20
  and we have the fairy glass there too. The fairy glass is as lovely
• 2:30:24
  as a dream. Diana found it out in the woods behind their chicken house.
• 2:30:28
  It's all full of rainbows, just little, young rainbows that haven't grown
• 2:30:31
  big yet. And Diana's mother told her it was broken off a hanging lamp
• 2:30:35
  they once had. But it's nice to imagine the fairies lost it one night
• 2:30:39
  when they had a ball. So we call it the fairy glass. Matthew
• 2:30:41
  is going to make us a table. Oh, we have named that little
• 2:30:45
  round pool over in mister Barry's field, Willowmere. I got that name out
• 2:30:48
  of the book Diana lent me. That was a thrilling book. Marilla,
• 2:30:52
  the heroine had five lovers. I'd be satisfied with one, wouldn't you.
• 2:30:56
  She was very handsome and she went through great tribulations. She could faint as
• 2:31:01
  easy as anything. I'd love to be able to faint, wouldn't you,
• 2:31:03
  Marilla. It's so romantic, But I'm really very healthy. For all,
• 2:31:07
  I'm so thin. I believe I'm getting fatter, though, don't you think
• 2:31:11
  I am. I look at my elbows every morning when I get up to
• 2:31:13
  see if any dimples are coming. Diana is having a new dress made with
• 2:31:18
  elbow sleeves. She's going to wear it to the picnic. Oh. I
• 2:31:20
  do hope it will be fine next Wednesday. I don't feel that I could
• 2:31:24
  endure the disappointment if anything happened to prevent me from getting to the picnic.
• 2:31:28
  I suppose I'd lived through it, but I am certain it would be a
• 2:31:30
  life long sorrow. It wouldn't matter if I got to a hundred picnics in
• 2:31:33
  after years. They wouldn't make up for missing this one. They're going to
• 2:31:37
  have boats on the Lake of Shining Waters and ice cream. As I told
• 2:31:39
  you, I've never tasted ice cream. Diana tried to explain what it was
• 2:31:43
  like, but I guess ice cream is one of those things that are beyond
• 2:31:46
  imagination. Anne, you have talked even on for ten minutes. By the
• 2:31:50
  clock, said Marilla. Now just for curiosity's sake, see if you can
• 2:31:54
  hold your tongue for the same length of time. Anne held her tongue as
• 2:31:58
  desired, but for the rest of the wheat she talked picnic and thought picnic
• 2:32:01
  and dreamed picnic. On Saturday, it rained, and she worked herself up
• 2:32:05
  into such a frantic state lest it should keep on raining until and over Wednesday
• 2:32:09
  that Marilla made her sew an extra patchwork square by way of studying her nerves.
• 2:32:13
  On Sunday, Anne confided to Marilla on the way home from church that
• 2:32:16
  she grew actually cold all over with excitement when the minister announced the picnic from
• 2:32:20
  the pulpit. Such a thrill as went up and down my back. Marilla,
• 2:32:24
  I don't think I'd ever really believed until then that there was honestly going
• 2:32:28
  to be a picnic. I couldn't help fearing I'd only imagined it. But
• 2:32:31
  when a minister says a thing in the pulpit, you just have to believe
• 2:32:35
  it. You set your heart too much on things, Anne said Marilla with
• 2:32:37
  a sigh. I'm afraid there'll be a great many disappointments in store for you
• 2:32:41
  through life, Oh, Marilla. Looking forward at things is half the pleasure
• 2:32:46
  of them, exclaimed Anne. You mayn't get the things themselves, but nothing
• 2:32:50
  can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them. Missus Lynde
• 2:32:54
  says, blessed are they who to expect nothing, for they shall not be
• 2:32:56
  disappointed. But I think it would be worse to expect nothing then to be
• 2:33:00
  disappointed. Marilla wore her amethyst brooch to church that day, as usual,
• 2:33:05
  Marilla always wore her amethyst brooch to church. She would have thought it rather
• 2:33:09
  sacrilegious to leave it off, as bad as forgetting her bible or her collection
• 2:33:11
  dime. That amethyst brooch was Marilla's most treasured possession. A seafaring uncle had
• 2:33:16
  given it to her mother, who in turn had bequeathed it to Marilla.
• 2:33:20
  It was an old fashioned oval containing a braid of her mother's hair, surrounded
• 2:33:24
  by a border of very fine amethysts. Marilla knew too little about precious stones
• 2:33:28
  to realize how fine the amethysts actually were, but she thought them very beautiful,
• 2:33:33
  and was always pleasantly conscious of their violet shimmer at her throat above her
• 2:33:37
  good brown sadin dress, even although she could not see it. Anne had
• 2:33:41
  been smitten with delighted admiration when she first saw that brooch. Oh, Marilla,
• 2:33:46
  it's a perfectly elegant brooch. I don't know how you can pay attention
• 2:33:50
  to the sermon or the prayers when you have it on. I couldn't,
• 2:33:52
  I know. I think amethysts are just sweet. They are what I used
• 2:33:56
  to think diamonds were like. Long ago, before I had ever seen a
• 2:34:00
  diamond, I read about them, and I tried to imagine what they would
• 2:34:03
  be like. I thought they would be lovely, glimmering purple stones. When
• 2:34:07
  I saw a real diamond in a lady's ring one day, I was so
• 2:34:09
  disappointed. I cried. Of course, it was very lovely, but it
• 2:34:13
  wasn't my idea of a diamond. Will you let me hold the brooch for
• 2:34:16
  one minute, Marilla? Do you think amethysts can be the souls of good
• 2:34:20
  violets? End of Chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen, Anne's confession. On the
• 2:34:28
  Monday evening before the picnic, Marilla came down from her room with a troubled
• 2:34:33
  face. Anne. She said, to that small personage who was shelling peas
• 2:34:37
  by the spotless table and singing Nellie of the Hazel Dell with a vigor and
• 2:34:41
  expression that did credit to Diana's teaching. Did you see anything of my amethyst
• 2:34:46
  brooch? I thought I stuck it in my pincushion when I came home from
• 2:34:50
  church yesterday evening, but I can't find it anywhere. I I saw it
• 2:34:54
  this afternoon when you were away at the Aid Society, said Anne a little
• 2:34:58
  slowly. I was passing your door when I saw it on the cushion,
• 2:35:01
  so I went in to look at it. Did you touch it, said
• 2:35:05
  Marilla sternly, Yes, admitted Anne. I took it up and pinned it
• 2:35:11
  on my breast, just to see how it would look. You had no
• 2:35:13
  business to do anything of the sort. It's very wrong in a little girl
• 2:35:18
  to meddle. You shouldn't have gone into my room in the first place,
• 2:35:20
  and you shouldn't have touched a brooch that didn't belong to you in the second.
• 2:35:24
  Where did you put it? Oh, I put it back on the
• 2:35:26
  bureau. I hadn't it on a minute, truly. I didn't mean to
• 2:35:30
  meddle, Marilla. I didn't think about its being wrong to go in and
• 2:35:33
  try on the brooch. But I see now that it was, and I'll
• 2:35:35
  never do it again. That's one good thing about me. I never do
• 2:35:39
  the same knotty thing twice. You didn't put it back, said Marilla.
• 2:35:43
  That broach isn't anywhere on the bureau. You've taken it out or something.
• 2:35:46
  Anne. I did put it back, said Anne quickly. Pertly, Marilla
• 2:35:50
  thought, I just don't remember whether I stuck it on the pin cushion or
• 2:35:54
  laid it in the china tray, but I'm perfectly certain I put it back.
• 2:35:58
  I'll go and have another look. Look, said Marilla, determining to
• 2:36:01
  be just if you put that brooch back, it's there still. If it
• 2:36:05
  isn't, i'll know you didn't. That's all. Marilla went to her room
• 2:36:09
  and made a thorough search, not only over the bureau, but in every
• 2:36:11
  other place she thought the brooch might possibly be. It was not to be
• 2:36:16
  found, and she returned to the kitchen. Anne, the brooch is gone.
• 2:36:20
  By your own admission, you were the last person to handle it.
• 2:36:24
  Now what have you done with it? Tell me the truth at once?
• 2:36:26
  Did you take it out and lose it? No? I didn't, said
• 2:36:30
  Anne, solemnly, meeting Marilla's angry gaze squarely, I never took the brooch
• 2:36:35
  out. Of your room, and that is the truth if I was to
• 2:36:37
  be led to the block for it, although I'm not very certain what a
• 2:36:39
  block is. So there, Marilla. Anne's so there was only intended to
• 2:36:45
  emphasize her assertion, but Marilla took it as a display of defiance. I
• 2:36:50
  believe you are telling me a falsehood, Anne, she said sharply. I
• 2:36:52
  know you are there. Now, don't say anything more unless you are prepared
• 2:36:56
  to tell the whole truth. Go to your room and stay there until you
• 2:36:58
  are ready to confess. Will I take the peas with me, said Anne
• 2:37:03
  meekly. No, I'll finish shelling them myself. Do as I bid you.
• 2:37:07
  When Anne had gone, Marilla went about her evening tasks in a very
• 2:37:11
  disturbed state of mind. She was worried about her valuable brooch. What if
• 2:37:15
  Anne had lost it? And how wicked of the child to deny having taken
• 2:37:18
  it when anybody could see she must have with such an innocent face too.
• 2:37:24
  I don't know what I wouldn't sooner have had happened, thought Marilla, as
• 2:37:26
  she nervously shelled the peace. Of course, I don't suppose she meant to
• 2:37:30
  steal it or anything like that. She's just taken it to play with or
• 2:37:33
  help along that imagination of hers. She must have taken it, that's clear,
• 2:37:37
  for there hasn't been a soul in that room since she was in it,
• 2:37:39
  by her own story, until I went up to night and the brooch
• 2:37:43
  is gone. There's nothing surer. I suppose she has lost it and is
• 2:37:46
  afraid to own up for fear she'll be punished. It's a dreadful thing to
• 2:37:50
  think she tells falsehoods. It's a far worse thing than her fit of temper.
• 2:37:54
  It's a fearful responsibility to have a child in your house. You can't
• 2:37:56
  trust slyness and untruthfulness. That's what she has displayed. I declare, I
• 2:38:01
  feel worse about that than about the brooch. If she'd only have told the
• 2:38:05
  truth about it, I wouldn't mind so much. Marilla went to her room
• 2:38:09
  at intervals all through the evening and searched for the brooch, without finding it.
• 2:38:13
  A bedtime visit to the East Gable produced no result. Anne persisted in
• 2:38:18
  denying that she knew anything about the brooch, but Marilla was only the more
• 2:38:20
  firmly convinced that she did. She told Matthew the story the next morning,
• 2:38:24
  Matthew was confounded and puzzled. He could not so quickly lose faith in Anne,
• 2:38:30
  but he had to admit that circumstances were against her. You're sure it
• 2:38:33
  hasn't fell down behind the bureau, was the only suggestion he could offer.
• 2:38:37
  I've moved the bureau, and I've taken out the drawers, and I've looked
• 2:38:41
  in every crack and cranny, was Marilla's positive answer. The brooch is gone,
• 2:38:45
  and that child has taken it and lied about it. That's the plain,
• 2:38:48
  ugly truth, Matthew Cuthbert, and we might as well look it in
• 2:38:50
  the face. Well, now, what are you going to do about it?
• 2:38:54
  Matthew asked forlornly, feeling secretly thankful that Marilla and not he had to
• 2:39:00
  deal with the situation. He felt no desire to put his ore in this
• 2:39:03
  time. She'll stay in her room until she confesses, said Marilla, grimly,
• 2:39:07
  remembering the success of this method in the former case. Then we'll see.
• 2:39:11
  Perhaps we'll be able to find the brooch if she'll only tell where she
• 2:39:15
  took it. But in any case she'll have to be severely punished. Matthew,
• 2:39:18
  Well, now you'll have to punish her, said Matthew, reaching for
• 2:39:22
  his hat. I've nothing to do with it. Remember you warn me off
• 2:39:24
  yourself. Marilla felt deserted by every one. She could not even go to
• 2:39:30
  missus Lynde for advice. She went up to the east gable with a very
• 2:39:33
  serious face and left it with a face more serious still. Anne steadfastly refused
• 2:39:39
  to confess. She persisted in asserting that she had not taken the brooch.
• 2:39:43
  The child had evidently been crying, and Marilla felt a pang of pity,
• 2:39:46
  which she sternly repressed. By night, she was as she expressed it,
• 2:39:50
  beat out. You'll stay in this room until you confess. Anne. You
• 2:39:54
  can make up your mind to that, she said firmly. But the picnic
• 2:39:58
  is tomorrow, Marilla cried, Anne. You won't keep me from going to
• 2:40:01
  that, will you. You'll just let me out for the afternoon, won't
• 2:40:05
  you. Then I'll stay here as long as you like afterwards, cheerfully,
• 2:40:09
  but I must go to the picnic. You'll not go to picnics nor anywhere
• 2:40:11
  else until you've confessed, Anne, Oh, Marilla gasped Anne. But Marilla
• 2:40:18
  had gone out and shut the door. Wednesday morning dawned as bright and fair,
• 2:40:22
  as if expressly made to order for the picnic. Birds sang around green
• 2:40:26
  gables. The madonna lilies in the garden sent out whiffs of perfume that entered
• 2:40:30
  in on viewless winds at every door and window, and wandered through halls and
• 2:40:33
  rooms like spirits of benediction. The birches in the hollow waved joyful hands as
• 2:40:39
  if watching for Anne's usual morning greeting from the east gable. But Anne was
• 2:40:43
  not at her window. When Marilla took her breakfast up to her, she
• 2:40:46
  found the child sitting primly on her bed, pale and resolute, with tight
• 2:40:50
  shut lips and gleaming eyes. Marilla, I'm ready to confess, ah.
• 2:40:56
  Marilla laid down her tray once again her man that had succeeded, but her
• 2:41:01
  success was very bitter to her. Let me hear what you have to say,
• 2:41:05
  then, Anne. I took the amethyst brooch, said Anne, as
• 2:41:09
  if repeating a lesson she had learned. I took it just as you said.
• 2:41:13
  I didn't mean to take it when I went in, but it did
• 2:41:15
  look so beautiful, Marilla. When I pinned it on my breast that I
• 2:41:18
  was overcome by an irresistible temptation. I imagined how perfectly thrilling it would be
• 2:41:24
  to take it to Idlewild and play that I was the lady Cordelia Fitzgerald.
• 2:41:28
  It would be so much easier to imagine I was the Lady Cordelia if I
• 2:41:31
  had a real amethyst brooch on Diana, and I made necklaces of roseberries.
• 2:41:35
  But what are roseberries compared to amethysts? So I took the brooch. I
• 2:41:39
  thought I could put it back before you came home. I went all the
• 2:41:43
  way round by the road to lengthen out the time. When I was going
• 2:41:46
  over the bridge across the Lake of Shining Waters, I took the brooch off
• 2:41:50
  to have another look at it. Oh, how it did shine in the
• 2:41:52
  sunlight. And then when I was leaning over the bridge, it just slipped
• 2:41:56
  through my fingers. So and went down, down, down, all purply
• 2:42:01
  sparkling, and sank forever more beneath the Lake of Shining Waters. And that's
• 2:42:07
  the best I can do at confessing Marilla. Marilla felt hot anger surge up
• 2:42:11
  into her heart again. This child had taken and lost her treasured amethyst brooch,
• 2:42:16
  and now sat there calmly reciting the details thereof without the least apparent compunction
• 2:42:20
  or repentance. Anne, this is terrible, she said, trying to speak
• 2:42:24
  calmly. You are the very wickedest girl I ever heard of. Yes,
• 2:42:30
  I suppose I am agreed, Anne, tranquility, and I know I'll have
• 2:42:33
  to be punished. It'll be your duty to punish me, Marilla. Won't
• 2:42:37
  you please get it over right off? Because I'd like to go to the
• 2:42:39
  picnic with nothing on my mind picnic. Indeed, you'll go to no picnic
• 2:42:45
  today, Anne, Shirley. That shall be your punishment, and it isn't
• 2:42:48
  half severe enough either for what you've done. Not go to the picnic.
• 2:42:54
  Anne sprang to her feet and clutched Marilla's hand. But you promised me I
• 2:42:58
  might, Oh Marilla, I must go to the picnic. That was why
• 2:43:01
  I confessed. Punish me any way you liked, But that, oh Marilla,
• 2:43:05
  please please let me go to the picnic. Think of the ice cream
• 2:43:09
  for anything, you know, I may never have a chance to taste ice
• 2:43:11
  cream again. Marilla disengaged Anne's clinging hands stonily. You needn't plead, Anne.
• 2:43:18
  You are not going to the picnic, and that's final. No,
• 2:43:22
  not a word. Anne realized that Marilla was not to be moved. She
• 2:43:26
  clasped her hands together, gave a piercing shriek, and then flung herself face
• 2:43:31
  downward on the bed, crying and writhing in an utter abandonment of disappointment and
• 2:43:35
  despair. For Lance's sake, gasped Marilla, hastening from the room. I
• 2:43:41
  believe the child is crazy. No child in her senses would behave as she
• 2:43:45
  does. Oh if she isn't utterly bad, Oh dear, I'm afraid Rachel
• 2:43:48
  was right from the first. But I've put my hand to the plow and
• 2:43:52
  I won't look back. That was a dismal morning. Marilla worked fiercely and
• 2:43:56
  scrubbed the porch floor in the dairy shells when you could nothing else to do.
• 2:44:01
  Neither the shelves nor the porch needed it, but Marilla did. Then
• 2:44:05
  she went out and raked the yard. When dinner was ready, she went
• 2:44:07
  to the stairs and called Anne. A tear stained face appeared, looking tragically
• 2:44:11
  over the banisters. Come down to your dinner, Anne, I don't want
• 2:44:16
  any dinner, Marilla said Anne sobbingly. I couldn't eat anything. My heart
• 2:44:20
  is broken. You'll feel remorse of conscience. Some day I expect for breaking
• 2:44:24
  it, Marilla, But I forgive you. Remember when the time comes that
• 2:44:28
  I forgive you. But please don't ask me to wait anything, especially boiled
• 2:44:33
  pork and greens. Boiled pork and greens are so unromantic when one is in
• 2:44:37
  affliction. Exasperated, Marilla returned to the kitchen and poured out her tale of
• 2:44:43
  woe to Matthew, who, between his sense of justice and his unlawful sympathy
• 2:44:46
  for Anne, was a miserable man. Well, now she shouldn't have taken
• 2:44:52
  the brooch, Marilla, or told stories about it, he admitted, mournfully,
• 2:44:56
  surveying his plate full of unromantic pork and greens as if he liked Anne.
• 2:45:00
  Thought it a food unsuited to crises of feeling. But she's such a
• 2:45:03
  little thing, such an interesting little thing. Don't you think it's pretty rough
• 2:45:07
  not to let her go to the picnic when she's so set on it.
• 2:45:11
  Matthew Cuthbert, I'm amazed at you. I think I've let her off entirely
• 2:45:15
  too easy, And she doesn't appear to realize how wicked she's been at all.
• 2:45:18
  That's what worries me. Most. If she'd really felt sorry, it
• 2:45:22
  wouldn't be so bad. And you don't seem to realize it neither. You're
• 2:45:26
  making excuses for her all the time. To yourself, I can see that.
• 2:45:30
  Well now she's such a little thing, feebly, reiterated Matthew. And
• 2:45:33
  there should be allowances made, Marilla. You know she's never had any bringing
• 2:45:37
  up. Well, she's having it now, retorted Marilla. The retort silenced
• 2:45:43
  Matthew, if it did not convince him that dinner was a very dismal meal.
• 2:45:48
  The only cheerful thing about it was Jerry Butte, the hired boy,
• 2:45:50
  and Marilla resented his cheerfulness as a personal insult. When her dishes were washed
• 2:45:56
  and her bread sponge sent and her hens fed, Marilla remembered that she had
• 2:46:00
  noticed a small rent in her best black lace shawl when she had taken it
• 2:46:03
  off on Monday afternoon, on returning from the Lady's aid she would go and
• 2:46:07
  mend it. The shawl was in a box in her trunk. As Marilla
• 2:46:11
  lifted it out, the sunlight falling through the vines that clustered thickly about the
• 2:46:15
  window struck upon something caught in the shawl, something that glittered and sparkled in
• 2:46:18
  facets of violet light. Marilla snatched at it with a gasp. It was
• 2:46:24
  the amethyst brooch, hanging to a thread of the lace by its catch.
• 2:46:28
  Dear life and Heart, said Marilla blankly, What does this mean? Here
• 2:46:33
  is my brooch safe and sound that I thought was at the bottom of Berry's
• 2:46:35
  pond. Whatever did that girl mean by saying she took it and lost it?
• 2:46:39
  I declare I believe Green Gables is bewitched. I remember now that when
• 2:46:45
  I took off my shawl Monday afternoon, I laid it on the bureau for
• 2:46:48
  a minute. I suppose the brooch got caught in it somehow. Well,
• 2:46:52
  Marilla betook herself to the East Gable, brooch in hand. Anne had cried
• 2:46:58
  herself out and was sitting dejectedly by the window. Anne Shirley said Marilla solemnly,
• 2:47:03
  I've just found my brooch hanging to my black laize shawl. Now I
• 2:47:07
  want to know what that rigmarole you told me this morning meant. Why you
• 2:47:11
  said you'd keep me here until I confessed, returned Anne wearily. And so
• 2:47:16
  I decided to confess because I was bound to get to the picnic. I
• 2:47:18
  thought out a confession last night after I went to bed, and made it
• 2:47:22
  as interesting as I could, and I said it over and over so that
• 2:47:24
  I wouldn't forget it. But you wouldn't let me go to the picnic after
• 2:47:28
  all, So all my trouble was wasted. Marilla had to laugh in spite
• 2:47:33
  of herself, but her conscience pricked her. Hang, you do beat all.
• 2:47:37
  But I was wrong. I see that now. I shouldn't have doubted
• 2:47:39
  your word when I'd never known you to tell a story. Of course,
• 2:47:43
  it wasn't right for you to confess to a thing you hadn't done. It
• 2:47:46
  was very wrong to do so, but I drove you to it. So
• 2:47:48
  if you'll forgive me, Anne, I'll forgive you and we'll start square again.
• 2:47:52
  And now get yourself ready for the picnic. Anne flew up like a
• 2:47:56
  rocket. Oh, Marilla, isn't it too late? No, if it's
• 2:48:00
  only two o'clock, they won't be more than well gathered yet, and it'll
• 2:48:03
  be an hour before they have tea. Wash your face and comb your hair
• 2:48:05
  and put on your gingham. I'll fill a basket for you. There's plenty
• 2:48:09
  of stuff baked in the house and I'll get Jerry to hitch up the sorrel
• 2:48:13
  and drive you down to the picnic ground, Oh Marilla, exclaimed Anne,
• 2:48:16
  flying to the washstand five minutes ago. I was so miserable. I was
• 2:48:20
  wishing I'd never been born, and now I wouldn't change places with an angel.
• 2:48:24
  That night, a thoroughly happy, completely tired out, Anne returned to
• 2:48:28
  Green Gables in a state of beatification impossible to describe, Oh Marilla, I've
• 2:48:33
  had a perfectly scrumptious time. Scrumptius is a new word I learned to day.
• 2:48:37
  I heard Mary Alice Bell use it. Isn't it very expressive? Everything
• 2:48:41
  was lovely. We had a splendid tea, and then mister Harmon Andrews took
• 2:48:46
  us all for a row on the Lake of Shining Waters, six of us
• 2:48:48
  at a time, and Jane Andrews nearly fell overboard. She was leaning out
• 2:48:52
  to pick water lilies, and if mister Andrews hadn't caught her by the sash
• 2:48:56
  just in the nick of time, she'd fallen in and probably been dress.
• 2:49:00
  I wish it had been me. It would have been such a romantic experience
• 2:49:03
  to have been nearly drowned. It would be such a thrilling tale to tell,
• 2:49:07
  and we had the ice cream. Words fail me to describe that ice
• 2:49:11
  cream, Marilla. I assure you it was sublime That evening Marilla told the
• 2:49:18
  whole story to Matthew over her stocking basket. I'm willing to own up that
• 2:49:22
  I made a mistake, she concluded candidly, but I've learned a lesson.
• 2:49:26
  I have to laugh when I think of Anne's confession, although I suppose I
• 2:49:28
  shouldn't, for it really was a falsehood. But it doesn't seem as bad
• 2:49:33
  as the other would have been. Somehow, and anyhow I'm responsible for it.
• 2:49:37
  That child is hard to understand in some respects, but I believe she'll
• 2:49:39
  turn out all right. Yet, and there's one thing certain. No house
• 2:49:43
  will ever be dull that she's in. End of Chapter fourteen, Chapter fifteen,
• 2:49:50
  A tempest in the school teapot. What a splendid day, said Anne,
• 2:49:56
  drawing a long breath. Isn't it good just to be a li on
• 2:50:00
  a day like this? I pity the people who aren't born yet for missing
• 2:50:03
  it. They may have good days, of course, but they can never
• 2:50:07
  have this one. And it's splendidor still to have such a lovely way to
• 2:50:11
  go to school by, isn't it? It's a lot nicer than going round
• 2:50:13
  by the road that is so dusty and hot, said Diana, practically peeping
• 2:50:18
  into her dinner basket and mentally calculating if the three juicy toothsome raspberry tarts reposing
• 2:50:24
  there were divided among ten girls, how many bites each girl would have?
• 2:50:28
  The little girls of Avonlea School always pooled their lunches, and to eat three
• 2:50:31
  raspberry tarts all alone, or even to share them only with one's best chum,
• 2:50:35
  would have forever and ever branded as awful mean the girl who did it.
• 2:50:39
  And yet when the tarts were divided among ten girls, you just got
• 2:50:43
  enough to tantalize you. The way Anne and Diana went to school was a
• 2:50:48
  pretty one. Anne thought those walks to and from school with Diana couldn't be
• 2:50:52
  improved upon, even by imagination. Going round by the main road would have
• 2:50:58
  been so unromantic. But to go by the Lover's Lane and Willowmere and Violet
• 2:51:01
  Vale and the Birch Path was romantic, if ever anything was. Lover's Lane
• 2:51:07
  opened out below the orchard at green Gables and stretched far up into the woods
• 2:51:09
  to the end of the Cuthbert farm. It was the way by which the
• 2:51:13
  cows were taken to the back pasture and the wood hauled home in winter.
• 2:51:16
  Anne had named it Lover's Lane before she had been a month at Green Gables.
• 2:51:20
  Not that lovers ever really walk there, she explained to Marilla. But
• 2:51:24
  Diana and I are reading a perfectly magnificent book and there's a lover's Lane in
• 2:51:28
  it, so we want to have one too. And it's a very pretty
• 2:51:31
  name, don't you think so romantic. We can imagine the lovers into it.
• 2:51:35
  You know. I like that lane because you can think out loud there
• 2:51:37
  without people calling you crazy. Anne, starting out alone in the morning,
• 2:51:43
  went down Lover's Lane as far as the brook. Here Diana met her,
• 2:51:46
  and the two little girls went on up the lane under the leafy arch of
• 2:51:48
  maples. Maples are such sociable trees, said Anne. They're always rustling and
• 2:51:54
  whispering to you until they came to a rustic bridge. Then they left the
• 2:51:58
  lane and walked through mister Barry's back backfield and past Willowmere. Beyond Willowmere came
• 2:52:03
  Violet Veil, a little green dimple in the shadow of mister Andrew Bell's Big
• 2:52:07
  Woods. Of course, there are no violets there now, Anne told Marilla.
• 2:52:11
  But Diana says, there are millions of them in Spring. Oh,
• 2:52:13
  Marilla. Can't you just imagine you see them? It actually takes away my
• 2:52:18
  breath. I named it Violet Vale. Diana says she never saw the beat
• 2:52:22
  of me for hitting on fancy names for places. It's nice to be clever
• 2:52:24
  at something, isn't it. But Diana named the birch Path. She wanted
• 2:52:28
  to, so I let her. But I'm sure I could have found something
• 2:52:31
  more poetical than plain birch path. Anybody can think of a name like that.
• 2:52:35
  But the birch Path is one of the prettiest places in the world,
• 2:52:39
  Marilla. It was other people besides Anne thought so when they stumbled on it.
• 2:52:43
  It was a little narrow, twisting path winding down over a long hill,
• 2:52:48
  straight through mister Bell's woods, where the light came down, sifted through
• 2:52:52
  so many emerald screens that it was as flawless as the heart of a diamond.
• 2:52:56
  It was fringe in all its length, with slim young birches, white
• 2:53:00
  stemmed and lissom bowed ferns and starflowers and wild lilies of the valley, and
• 2:53:05
  scarlet tufts of pigeon berries grew thickly along it, and there was always a
• 2:53:09
  delightful spiciness in the air, and music of bird calls, and the murmur
• 2:53:13
  and laugh of wood winds in the trees overhead. Now and then you might
• 2:53:18
  see a rabbit skipping across the road if you were quiet, which with Anne
• 2:53:22
  and Diana happened about once in a blue moon. Down in the valley,
• 2:53:24
  the path came out to the main road, and then it was just up
• 2:53:28
  the spruce hill to the school. The Avonlea School was a whitewashed building,
• 2:53:33
  low in the eaves and wide in the windows, furnished inside with comfortable,
• 2:53:37
  substantial old fashioned desks that opened and shut and were carved all over their lids
• 2:53:41
  with the initials and hieroglyphics of three generations of school children. The schoolhouse was
• 2:53:46
  set back from the road, and behind it was a dusky fir wood and
• 2:53:50
  a brook where all the children put their bottles of milk in the morning to
• 2:53:52
  keep cool and sweet until dinner hour. Marilla had seen Anne start off to
• 2:53:56
  school on the first day of September with many secret misgives. Anne was such
• 2:54:01
  an odd girl. How would she get on with the other children, and
• 2:54:03
  how on earth would she ever managed to hold her tongue during school hours.
• 2:54:07
  Things went better than Marilla feared. However, Anne came home that evening in
• 2:54:11
  high spirits. I think I'm going to like school here, she announced.
• 2:54:16
  I don't think much of the master, though he's all the time curling his
• 2:54:18
  mustache and making eyes at Prissy Andrews's Prissy's grown up. You know, she's
• 2:54:22
  sixteen and she's studying for the entrance examination into Queen's Academy at Charlottetown next year.
• 2:54:28
  Tillie Bolter says, the master is dead gone on her. She's got
• 2:54:31
  a beautiful complexion and curly brown hair, and she does it up so elegantly.
• 2:54:35
  She sits in the long seat at the back, and he sits there
• 2:54:37
  too, most of the time to explain her lessons, he says. But
• 2:54:41
  Ruby Gillis says she saw him writing something on her slate and when Prissy read
• 2:54:45
  it, she blushed as red as a beat and giggled. And Ruby Gillis
• 2:54:48
  says she doesn't believe it had anything to do with the lesson. Anne,
• 2:54:50
  Shirley, don't let me hear you talking about your teacher in that way again,
• 2:54:54
  said Marilla, sharply. You don't go to school to criticize the master.
• 2:54:58
  I guess he can teach you something, and it's your business to learn.
• 2:55:01
  And I want you to understand right off that you are not to come
• 2:55:03
  home telling tales about him. That is something I won't encourage. I hope
• 2:55:07
  you were a good girl. Indeed I was, said Anne comfortably. It
• 2:55:11
  wasn't so hard as you might imagine, either. I sit with Diana.
• 2:55:15
  Our seat is right by the window and we can look down to the Lake
• 2:55:18
  of Shining Waters. There are a lot of nice girls in school, and
• 2:55:20
  we had scrumptious fun playing at dinner time. It's so nice to have a
• 2:55:24
  lot of little girls to play with. But of course I like Diana best,
• 2:55:26
  and always will. I adored Diana. I'm dreadfully far behind the others.
• 2:55:31
  They're all in the fifth book, and I'm only in the fourth.
• 2:55:33
  I feel that it's kind of a disgrace. But there's not one of them
• 2:55:37
  has such an imagination as I have, and I soon found that out.
• 2:55:41
  We had reading and geography and Canadian history and dictation to day. Mister Phillips
• 2:55:45
  said my spelling was disgraceful, and he held up my slate so that everybody
• 2:55:48
  could see it all marked over. I felt so mortified, Marilla. He
• 2:55:52
  might have been polier to a stranger. I think Ruby Gillis gave me an
• 2:55:54
  apple, and Sophia Sloane lent me a lovely pink card with may I see
• 2:55:58
  you home on it. I'm to give it back to her tomorrow. And
• 2:56:01
  Tillie Bolter let me wear her bead ring all the afternoon. Can I have
• 2:56:05
  some of those pearl beads off the old pincushion in the garret to make myself
• 2:56:09
  a ring? And oh, Marilla, Jane Andrews told me that Minnie mac
• 2:56:11
  Pherson told her that she heard Prissy Andrews tell Sarah Gillis that I had a
• 2:56:15
  very pretty nose. Marilla. That is the first compliment I have ever had
• 2:56:18
  in my life. And you can't imagine what a strange feeling it gave me.
• 2:56:22
  Marilla, Have I really a pretty nose? I know you'll tell me
• 2:56:26
  the truth. Your nose is well enough, said Marilla shortly. Secretly,
• 2:56:31
  she thought Anne's nose was a remarkably pretty one, but she had no intention
• 2:56:33
  of telling her. So that was three weeks ago, and all had gone
• 2:56:37
  smoothly so far, And now this crisp September morning, Anne and Diana were
• 2:56:41
  tripping blithely down the birch path, two of the happiest little girls in Avonlea.
• 2:56:46
  I guess Gilbert Blythe will be in school to day, said Diana.
• 2:56:50
  He's been visiting his cousins over in New Brunswick all summer and he only came
• 2:56:54
  home Saturday night. He's awfully handsome, Anne, and he teases the girl
• 2:56:58
  something terrible. He just torments our lives out. Diana's voice indicated that she
• 2:57:03
  rather liked having her life tormented out than not Gilbert Blythe, said Anne.
• 2:57:07
  Isn't it his name that's written up on the porch wall with Julia Bell's and
• 2:57:11
  a big take notice over them? Yes, said Diana, tossing her head.
• 2:57:16
  But I'm sure he doesn't like Julia Bell so very much. I've heard
• 2:57:18
  him say he studied the multiplication table by her freckles. Oh, don't speak
• 2:57:22
  about freckles to me, implored Anne. It isn't delicate when I've got so
• 2:57:26
  many. But I do think that writing take notices up on the wall about
• 2:57:30
  the boys and girls is the silliest ever. I should just like to see
• 2:57:33
  anybody dare to write my name up with a boy's. Not of course,
• 2:57:37
  she hastened to add that anybody would. Anne sighed. She didn't want her
• 2:57:41
  name written up, but it was a little humiliating to know that there was
• 2:57:45
  no danger of it. Nonsense, said Diana, whose black eyes and glossy
• 2:57:50
  tresses had played such havoc with the hearts of Avonlea schoolboys that her name figured
• 2:57:54
  on the porch walls in half a dozen take notices. It's only meant as
• 2:57:56
  a joke. And don't you be too sure your name won't ever be written
• 2:58:01
  up. Charlie Sloane is dead gone on you. He told his mother his
• 2:58:05
  mother, mind you, that you were the smartest girl in school. That's
• 2:58:09
  better than being good looking. No, it isn't, said Anne Feminine to
• 2:58:13
  the corps. I'd rather be pretty than clever, and I hate Charlie Sloane.
• 2:58:16
  I can't bear a boy with goggle eyes. If anyone wrote my name
• 2:58:20
  up with his, I'd never get over it, Diana Barry, But it
• 2:58:24
  is nice to keep head of your class. You'll have Gilbert in your class
• 2:58:26
  after this, said Diana. And he's used to being head of his class.
• 2:58:30
  I can tell you he's only in the fourth book, although he's nearly
• 2:58:33
  fourteen. Four years ago his father was sick and had to go out to
• 2:58:37
  Alberta for his health, and Gilbert went with him. They were there three
• 2:58:39
  years, and gil didn't go to school hardly any until they came back.
• 2:58:43
  You won't find it so easy to keep head after this, Anne, I'm
• 2:58:46
  glad, said Anne quickly. I couldn't really feel proud of keeping head of
• 2:58:50
  little boys and girls of just nine or ten. I got up yesterday spelling
• 2:58:54
  ebulition. Josie Pye was head, and mind you, she peeped in her
• 2:58:56
  book. Mister Phillips didn't see her, was looking at Prissy Andrews, but
• 2:59:01
  I did. I just swept for a look of freezing scorn, and she
• 2:59:03
  got as red as a beat and spelled it wrong. After all, those
• 2:59:07
  pie girls are cheats all round, said Diana indignantly, as they climbed the
• 2:59:09
  fence of the main road. Gertie Pye actually went and put her milk bottle
• 2:59:13
  in my place in the brook yesterday, did you ever? I don't speak
• 2:59:18
  to her now. When mister Phillips was in the back of the room hearing
• 2:59:20
  Prissy Andrews Latin Diana whispered to Anne, that's Gilbert Blythe sitting right across the
• 2:59:26
  aisle from you. Anne. Just look at him and see if you don't
• 2:59:28
  think he's handsome. Anne looked accordingly. She had a good chance to do
• 2:59:33
  so, for the said Gilbert Blythe was absorbed in stealthily pinning the long yellow
• 2:59:37
  braid of Ruby Gillis, who sat in front of him to the back of
• 2:59:39
  her seat. He was a tall boy with curly brown hair, roguish hazel
• 2:59:43
  eyes, and a mouth twisted into a teasing smile. Presently Ruby Gillis started
• 2:59:48
  up to take a sum to the master. She fell back into her seat
• 2:59:52
  with a little shriek, believing that her hair was pulled out by the roots.
• 2:59:56
  Everybody looked at her, and mister Phillips glared so sternly that Ruby began
• 3:00:00
  to cry. Gilbert had whisked the pin out of sight and was studying his
• 3:00:03
  history with the soberest face in the world. But when the commotion subsided,
• 3:00:07
  he looked at Anne and winked with inexpressible drollery. I think your Gilbert Blythe
• 3:00:11
  is handsome, confided Anne to Diana. But I think he's very bold.
• 3:00:16
  It isn't good manners to wink at a strange girl. But it was not
• 3:00:20
  until the afternoon that things really began to happen. Mister Phillips was back in
• 3:00:24
  the corner explaining a problem in algebra to Prissy Andrews, and the rest of
• 3:00:28
  the scholars were doing pretty much as they pleased, eating green apples, whispering,
• 3:00:33
  drawing pictures on their slates, and driving crickets harnessed to strings up and
• 3:00:35
  down the aisle. Gilbert Blythe was trying to make Anne Shirley look at him,
• 3:00:39
  and failing utterly, because Anne was at that moment totally oblivious not only
• 3:00:43
  to the very existence of Gilbert Blythe, but of every other scholar in Avonlea
• 3:00:48
  School itself. With her chin propped on her hands and her eyes fixed on
• 3:00:52
  the blue glimpse of the lake of Shining Waters that the west window afforded,
• 3:00:56
  she was far away in a gorgeous dream land, hearing and seeing nothing save
• 3:01:00
  her own wonderful visions. Gilbert Blythe wasn't used to putting himself out to make
• 3:01:05
  a girl look at him, and meeting with failure. She should look at
• 3:01:07
  him, that red haired, shirly girl with the little pointed chin and the
• 3:01:11
  big eyes that weren't like the eyes of any other girl in Avonlea School.
• 3:01:13
  Gilbert reached across the aisle, picked up the end of Anne's long red braid,
• 3:01:18
  held it out at arm's length, and said, in a piercing whisper,
• 3:01:22
  Carrots, Carrots. Then Anne looked at him with a vengeance. She
• 3:01:26
  did more than look. She sprang to her feet, her bright fancies fallen
• 3:01:31
  into cureless ruin. She flashed one indignant glance at Gilbert from eyes whose angry
• 3:01:35
  sparkle was swiftly quenched in equally angry tears. You mean, hateful boy,
• 3:01:39
  she exclaimed passionately, how dare you? And then whack. Anne had brought
• 3:01:46
  her slate down on Gilbert's head and cracked it. Slate not head clear.
• 3:01:50
  Across Avonlea School always enjoyed a scene. This was an especially enjoyable one.
• 3:01:56
  Everybody said, oh, in horrified delight. Anne aghast Ruby Gillis, who
• 3:02:01
  was inclined to be hysterical began to cry. Tommy Sloane let his team of
• 3:02:05
  crickets escape him altogether. While he stared open mouthed at the tableau, mister
• 3:02:09
  Phillips stalked down the aisle and laid his hand heavily on Anne's shoulder. Anne,
• 3:02:15
  Shirley, what does this mean? He said angrily. Anne returned no
• 3:02:18
  answer. It was asking too much of flesh and blood to expect her to
• 3:02:22
  tell before the whole school that she had been called carrots. Gilbert, it
• 3:02:26
  was who spoke up stoutly. It was my fault, mister Phillips, I
• 3:02:28
  teased her. Mister Phillips paid no heed to Gilbert. I am sorry to
• 3:02:33
  see a pupil of mine displaying such a temper and such a vindictive spirit,
• 3:02:37
  he said, in a solemn tone, as if the mere fact of being
• 3:02:39
  a pupil of his ought to root out all evil passions from the hearts of
• 3:02:43
  small, imperfect mortals. Anne go and stand on the platform in front of
• 3:02:46
  the blackboard for the rest of the afternoon. Anne would have infinitely preferred a
• 3:02:50
  whipping to this punishment, under which her sensitive spirit quivered as from a whiplash,
• 3:02:56
  with a white set face she obeyed, mister Phillips, took a chalk
• 3:03:00
  crayon and wrote on a blackboard above her head. Anne Shirley has a very
• 3:03:03
  bad temper. Anne Shirley must learn to control her temper, and then read
• 3:03:07
  it out loud so that even the primer class, who couldn't read writing,
• 3:03:11
  should understand it. Anne stood there the rest of the afternoon with that legend
• 3:03:15
  above her. She did not cry or hang her head. Anger was still
• 3:03:18
  too hot in her heart for that, and it sustained her. Amid all
• 3:03:22
  her agony of humiliation. With resentful eyes and passion red cheeks, she confronted
• 3:03:26
  alike Diana's sympathetic gaze and Charlie Sloane's indignant nods and Josie Pye's malicious smiles.
• 3:03:33
  As for Gilbert Blythe, she would not even look at him. She would
• 3:03:37
  never look at him again, She would never speak to him. When school
• 3:03:41
  was dismissed, Anne marched out with her red head held high. Gilbert Blythe
• 3:03:45
  tried to intercept her at the porch door. I'm awfully sorry I made fun
• 3:03:48
  of your hair, Anne, he whispered, contritely. Honest, I am
• 3:03:50
  don't be mad for keeps now Anne swept by disdainfully, without look or sign
• 3:03:56
  of hearing. Oh how could you, Anne breathed Diana as they went down
• 3:04:01
  the road, Half reproachfully, half admiringly. Diana felt that she could never
• 3:04:05
  have resisted Gilbert's plea. I shall never forgive Gilbert blythe said Anne firmly.
• 3:04:11
  And mister Phillips spelled my name without an e too. The iron has entered
• 3:04:15
  into my soul, Diana. Diana hadn't the least idea what Anne meant,
• 3:04:20
  but she understood it was something terrible. You mustn't mind Gilbert making fun of
• 3:04:24
  your hair, she said, soothingly. Why he makes fun of all the
• 3:04:26
  little girls. He laughs at mine because it is so black. He's called
• 3:04:30
  me a crow a dozen times, and I never heard him apologize for anything
• 3:04:33
  before either. There's a great deal of difference between being called a crow and
• 3:04:37
  being called carrots, said Anne with dignity. Gilbert Blythe has hurt my feelings
• 3:04:43
  excruciatingly, Diana. It is possible the matter might have blown over without more
• 3:04:48
  excruciation if nothing else had happened. But when things begin to happen, they
• 3:04:52
  are apt to keep on avonlea Scholars often spent noon hour picking gum and mister
• 3:04:56
  Bell's spruce grove over the hill and across his big pasture. From there they
• 3:05:01
  could keep an eye on Eben Wright's house, where the master boarded. When
• 3:05:03
  they saw mister Phillips emerging therefrom, they ran for the schoolhouse, but the
• 3:05:07
  distance being about three times longer than mister Wright's lane, they were very apt
• 3:05:11
  to arrive there, breathless and gasping, some three minutes too late. On
• 3:05:16
  the following day, mister Phillips was seized with one of his spasmodic fits of
• 3:05:20
  reform, and announced before going home to dinner that he should expect to find
• 3:05:24
  all the scholars in their seats when he returned. Any One who came in
• 3:05:26
  late would be punished. All the boys and some of the girls went to
• 3:05:31
  mister bell spruce grove as usual, fully intending to stay only long enough to
• 3:05:33
  pick a chew. But spruce groves are seductive, and yellow nuts of gum
• 3:05:37
  beguiling. They picked and loitered and strayed, and as usual, the first
• 3:05:41
  thing that recalled them to a sense of the flight of time was Jimmy Glover
• 3:05:46
  shouting from the top of a patriarchal old spruce Master's coming. The girls who
• 3:05:50
  were on the ground started first and managed to reach the schoolhouse in time,
• 3:05:54
  but without a second despair. The boys, who had to wriggle hastily down
• 3:05:58
  from the trees, were or later, and Anne, who had not been
• 3:06:01
  picking gum at all, but was wondering happily in the far end of the
• 3:06:03
  grove, waist deep among the bracken, singing softly to herself, with a
• 3:06:07
  wreath of rice lilies on her hair, as if she were some wild divinity
• 3:06:11
  of the shadowy places, was latest of all. Anne could run like a
• 3:06:15
  deer. However, run she did, with the impish result that she overtook
• 3:06:18
  the boys at the door and was swept into the schoolhouse among them, just
• 3:06:20
  as mister Phillips was in the act of hanging up his hand. Mister Phillips's
• 3:06:24
  brief reforming energy was over. He didn't want the bother of punishing a dozen
• 3:06:28
  pupils, but it was necessary to do something to save his word, so
• 3:06:33
  he looked about for a scapegoat and found it in Anne, who had dropped
• 3:06:35
  into her seat, gasping for breath, with a forgotten lily wreath hanging askew
• 3:06:39
  over one ear and giving her a particularly rakish and disheveled appearance. Anne,
• 3:06:45
  Shirley, since you seem to be so fond of the boy's company, we
• 3:06:48
  shall indulge your taste for it this afternoon, he said, sarcastically, take
• 3:06:52
  those flowers out of your hair and sit with Gilbert Blythe. The other boys
• 3:06:56
  snickered. Diana, turning pale with pity, plucked the wreath Anne's hair and
• 3:07:00
  squeezed her hand. Anne stared at the master as if turned to stone.
• 3:07:05
  Did you hear what I said, Anne queried mister Phillips sternly. Yes,
• 3:07:09
  Sir, said Anne, slowly. But I didn't suppose you really meant it.
• 3:07:13
  I assure you I did. Still, with the sarcastic inflection, which
• 3:07:16
  all the children and Anne especially hated, it flicked on the raw obey me
• 3:07:22
  at once. For a moment, Anne looked as if she meant to disobey,
• 3:07:26
  Then, realizing that there was no help for it, she rose haughtily,
• 3:07:31
  stepped across the aisle, sat down beside Gilbert Blythe, and buried her
• 3:07:35
  face in her arms on the desk. Ruby Gillis, who got a glimpse
• 3:07:37
  of it as it went down, told the others going home from school that
• 3:07:41
  she'd actually never seen anything like it. It was so white, with awful
• 3:07:45
  little red spots in it. To Anne, this was the end of all
• 3:07:48
  things. It was bad enough to be singled out for punishment from among a
• 3:07:52
  dozen equally guilty ones. It was worse still to be sent to sit with
• 3:07:56
  a boy, but that that boy should be Gilbert Blythe was heaping insult on
• 3:08:01
  injury to a degree utterly unbearable. Anne felt that she could not bear it,
• 3:08:05
  and it would be of no use to try, her whole being seethed
• 3:08:09
  with shame and anger and humiliation. At first, the others looked and whispered
• 3:08:13
  and giggled and nudged, but as Anne never lifted her head, and as
• 3:08:16
  Gilbert worked fractions as if his whole soul was absorbed in them, and them
• 3:08:20
  only, they soon returned to their own tasks, and Anne was forgotten.
• 3:08:24
  When mister Phillips called the history class out, Anne should have gone, but
• 3:08:28
  Anne did not move, and mister Phillips, who had been writing some verses
• 3:08:31
  to Priscilla before he called the class, was thinking about an obstinate of rhyme
• 3:08:35
  still and never missed her. Once. When nobody was looking, Gilbert took
• 3:08:39
  from his desk a little pink candy heart with a gold motto on it you
• 3:08:43
  are Sweet, and slipped it under the curve of Anne's arm, whereupon Anne
• 3:08:48
  arose, took the pink heart gingerly between the tips of her fingers, dropped
• 3:08:52
  it on the floor, grounded a powder beneath her heel, and resumed her
• 3:08:54
  position, without deigning to bestow a glance on Gilbert. When school went,
• 3:09:00
  Anne marched to her desk ostentatiously took out everything therein books and writing tablet,
• 3:09:05
  pen and ink, testament and arithmetic, and piled them neatly on her cracked
• 3:09:09
  slate. What are you taking all those things home for? Anne, Diana
• 3:09:13
  wanted to know. As soon as they were out of the road. She
• 3:09:16
  had not dared to ask the question before. I am not coming back to
• 3:09:18
  school any more, said Anne. Diana gasped and stared at Anne to see
• 3:09:22
  if she meant it. Will Marilla let you stay home, she asked.
• 3:09:26
  She'll have to, said Anne, I'll never go to school to that man
• 3:09:30
  again. Oh, Anne, Diana looked as if she were ready to cry.
• 3:09:35
  I do think you're mean, what shall I do. Mister Phillips will
• 3:09:39
  make me sip with that horrid gerty pie. I know he will because she
• 3:09:41
  is sitting alone. Do come back, Anne. I'd do almost anything in
• 3:09:46
  the world for you, Diana, said Anne sadly. I'd let myself be
• 3:09:50
  torn limb from limb if it would do you any good. But I can't
• 3:09:54
  do this, so please don't ask it. You harrow up my very soul.
• 3:09:58
  Just think of all the fun you will miss, mourned Diana. We
• 3:10:01
  are going to build the loveliest new house Dime by the Brook, and we'll
• 3:10:05
  be playing ball next week, and you've never played ball, Anne. It's
• 3:10:09
  tremendously exciting. And we're going to learn a new song. Jane Andrews is
• 3:10:13
  practicing it up now, and Alice Andrews is going to bring a new Pansy
• 3:10:16
  book next week and we're all going to read it out loud, chapter about
• 3:10:20
  Dine by the Brook. And you know you are so fond of reading out
• 3:10:22
  loud, Anne. Nothing moved Anne in the least her mind was made up.
• 3:10:28
  She would not go to school to mister Phillips again, she told Marilla.
• 3:10:31
  So when she got home, Nonsense said Marilla. It isn't nonsense at
• 3:10:35
  all, said Anne, gazing at Marilla with solemn reproachful eyes. Don't you
• 3:10:39
  understand, Marilla, I've been insulted, insulted fiddlesticks. You'll go to school
• 3:10:45
  tomorrow as usual. Oh no, Anne shook her head gently. I'm not
• 3:10:48
  going back, Marilla. I'll learn my lessons at home, and I'll be
• 3:10:52
  as good as I can and hold my tongue all the time if it is
• 3:10:54
  possible at all. But I'll not go back to school, I assure you.
• 3:11:00
  Marilla saw something remarkably like unyielding stubbornness looking out of Anne's small face.
• 3:11:05
  She understood that she would have trouble in overcoming it, but she resolved wisely
• 3:11:09
  to say nothing more. Just then, I'll run down and see Rachel about
• 3:11:13
  it. This evening, she thought, there's no use reasoning with Anne now.
• 3:11:16
  She's too worked up, and I've an idea she can be awful stubborn
• 3:11:20
  if she takes the notion. Far as I can make out from her story,
• 3:11:22
  mister Phillips has been carrying matters with a rather high hand. But it
• 3:11:26
  would never do to say so to her. I'll just talk it over with
• 3:11:28
  Rachel. She's sent ten children to school and she ought to know something about
• 3:11:33
  it. She'll have heard the whole story too. By this time, Marilla
• 3:11:37
  found Missus Lynde knitting quilts as industriously and cheerfully as usual. I suppose you
• 3:11:41
  know what I've come about, she said, a little shamefacedly. Missus Rachel
• 3:11:46
  nodded about Anne's fuss in school. I reckon, she said. Tillie Bolter
• 3:11:50
  was in on her way home from school and told me about it. I
• 3:11:52
  don't know what to do with her, said Marilla. She declares she won't
• 3:11:56
  go back to school. I never saw a child so worked up. I've
• 3:12:00
  been expecting trouble ever since she started to school. I knew things were going
• 3:12:03
  too smooth to last. She's so high strung. What would you advise,
• 3:12:07
  Rachel, Well, since you've asked my advice, Marilla said Missus Lynde amiably.
• 3:12:11
  Missus Lynde dearly loved to be asked for advice. I'd just humor her
• 3:12:16
  a little at first, That's what i'd do. It's my belief that mister
• 3:12:18
  Phillips was in the wrong. Of course, it doesn't do to say so
• 3:12:22
  to the children, you know, and of course he did right to punish
• 3:12:24
  her yesterday for giving way to temper, But to day it was different.
• 3:12:26
  The others who were late should have been punished as well as Anne, that's
• 3:12:30
  what. And I don't believe in making the girls sit with the boys for
• 3:12:33
  punishment. It isn't modest. Tillie Bota was real indignant. She took Anne's
• 3:12:37
  part right through and said all the scholars did too. Anne seems real popular
• 3:12:41
  among them, somehow, I never thought she'd take with them so well,
• 3:12:45
  then you really think i'd better let her stay home, said Marilla in amazement.
• 3:12:48
  Yes, that is. I wouldn't say school to her again until she
• 3:12:52
  said it herself. Depend upon it, Marilla. She'll cool off in a
• 3:12:56
  week or so and be ready to go back of her own accord. That's
• 3:12:58
  what. While if you were to make her go back right off, dear
• 3:13:01
  knows what freak or tantrum she'd take next and make more trouble than ever.
• 3:13:05
  The less fuss made, the better. In my opinion, she won't miss
• 3:13:09
  much by not going to school as far as that goes. Mister Phillips isn't
• 3:13:11
  any good at all as a teacher. The order he keeps is scandalous,
• 3:13:15
  that's what. And he neglects the young fry and puts all his time on
• 3:13:18
  those big scholars she's getting ready for Queen's. He'd never have got the school
• 3:13:22
  for another year if his uncle hadn't been a trustee. The trustee, for
• 3:13:24
  he just leads the other to a round by the nose. That's what I
• 3:13:28
  declare. I don't know what education in this island is coming to. Missus
• 3:13:33
  Rachel shook her head as much as to say, if she were only at
• 3:13:35
  the head of the educational system of the province, things would be much better
• 3:13:39
  managed. Marilla took Missus Rachel's advice, and not another word was said to
• 3:13:43
  Anne about going back to school. She learned her lessons at home, did
• 3:13:46
  her chores, and played with Diana in the chilly purple autumn twilights. But
• 3:13:50
  when she met Gilbert Blyfe on the road or encountered him in Sunday school,
• 3:13:54
  she passed him by with an icy contempt that was no wit thought by his
• 3:13:56
  evident desire to appease her. Even Diana's efforts as a peacemaker were of no
• 3:14:01
  avail. Anne had evidently made up her mind to hate Gilbert blythe to the
• 3:14:05
  end of life. As much as she hated Gilbert, however, did she
• 3:14:09
  love Diana with all the love of her passionate little heart, equally intense in
• 3:14:13
  its likes and dislikes. One evening, Marilla, coming in from the orchard
• 3:14:16
  with a basket of apples, found Anne sitting along by the east window in
• 3:14:20
  the twilight, crying bitterly. Whatever's the matter now, Anne, she asked.
• 3:14:26
  It's about Diana, sobbed Anne luxuriously. I love Diana, so Marilla,
• 3:14:31
  I cannot ever live without her. But I know very well when we
• 3:14:35
  grow up that Diana will get married and go away and leave me. And
• 3:14:39
  oh what shall I do? I hate her husband. I just hate him
• 3:14:43
  furiously. I've been imagining it all out, the wedding and everything, Diana
• 3:14:48
  dressed in snowy garments with a veil and looking as beautiful and regal as a
• 3:14:52
  queen, and me the bridesmaid with a lovely dress too, in puffed sleeves,
• 3:14:56
  but with a breaking heart, hid beneath my smile face, and then
• 3:15:01
  bidding Diana good bye. Here, Anne broke down entirely and wept with increasing
• 3:15:07
  bitterness. Marilla turned quickly away to hide her twitching face. But it was
• 3:15:11
  no use. She collapsed on the nearest chair and burst into such a hearty
• 3:15:16
  and unusual peal of laughter that Matthew, crossing the yard outside, halted in
• 3:15:20
  amazement. When had he heard Marilla laugh like that before? Well, Anne
• 3:15:26
  Shirley, said Marilla, as soon as she could speak, If you must
• 3:15:28
  borrow trouble for pity's sake, burrow it HANDI er home. I should think
• 3:15:33
  you had an imagination, sure enough. End of chapter fifteen. Chapter sixteen,
• 3:15:41
  Diana is invited to tea, with tragic results. October was a beautiful
• 3:15:46
  month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden and
• 3:15:50
  sunshine, and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson, and the wild
• 3:15:54
  cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy
• 3:15:58
  green, while the yields sun themselves. In aftermaths, Anne reveled in the
• 3:16:03
  world of color about her. Oh Marilla, she exclaimed one Saturday morning,
• 3:16:07
  coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs. I'm so glad I
• 3:16:11
  live in a world where there are octobers. It would be terrible if we
• 3:16:15
  just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it. Look at these maple branches,
• 3:16:18
  don't they give you a thrill? Several thrills. I'm going to decorate
• 3:16:22
  my room with them messy things, said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not
• 3:16:26
  noticeably developed. You clutter up your room entirely too much with out of door
• 3:16:31
  stuff, Anne, bedrooms were made to sleep in. Oh and dream in
• 3:16:35
  too, Marilla. And you know one can dream so much better in a
• 3:16:37
  room where there are pretty things. I'm going to put these boughs in the
• 3:16:41
  old blue jug and set them on my table. Mind you don't drop leaves
• 3:16:45
  all over the stairs. Then I'm going on a meeting of the Aid Society
• 3:16:48
  at Carmody this afternoon. Anne and I won't likely be home before dark.
• 3:16:52
  You'll have to get Matthew and Jerry their supper. So mind you don't forget
• 3:16:54
  to put the tea to draw until you sit down at the table, as
• 3:16:58
  you did last time. It was dreadfu full of me to forget, said
• 3:17:01
  Anne apologetically. But that was the afternoon. I was trying to think of
• 3:17:03
  a name for Violet Vale, and it crowded other thing's out. Matthew was
• 3:17:07
  so good he never scolded a bit. He put the tea down himself and
• 3:17:11
  said we could wait awhile as not. And I told him a lovely fairy
• 3:17:15
  story while we were waiting, so he didn't find the time long at all.
• 3:17:18
  It was a beautiful story, Marilla. I forgot the end of it,
• 3:17:20
  so I made up an in for it myself, and Matthew said he
• 3:17:24
  couldn't tell where the join came in. Matthew would think it all right,
• 3:17:26
  Anne, if you took a notion to get up and have dinner in the
• 3:17:28
  middle of the night. But you keep your wits about you this time,
• 3:17:33
  and I don't really know if I'm doing right. It may make you more
• 3:17:35
  addle paid than ever. But you can ask Diana to come over and spend
• 3:17:39
  the afternoon with you and have tea here. Oh, Marilla, Anne clasped
• 3:17:43
  her hands. How perfectly lovely you are able to imagine things after all,
• 3:17:48
  or else you'd never have understood how I've longed for that very thing. It
• 3:17:52
  will seem so nice and grown uppish. No fear of my forgetting to put
• 3:17:56
  the tea to draw when I have company, Oh Marilla, can I use
• 3:17:58
  the rosebud sprayed, He said, no, indeed the rosebud tea said,
• 3:18:03
  well what next? You know I never used that except for the minister or
• 3:18:07
  the aids. You'll put down the old brown tea set, but you can
• 3:18:09
  open the little yellow crock of cherry preserves. It's time it was being used.
• 3:18:13
  Anyhow, I believe it's beginning to work, and you can cut some
• 3:18:16
  fruit cake and have some of the cookies and snaps. I can just imagine
• 3:18:20
  myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea,
• 3:18:24
  said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically, and asking Diana if she takes sugar.
• 3:18:30
  I know she doesn't, but of course I'll ask her, just as
• 3:18:31
  if I didn't know, and then pressing her to take another piece of fruit
• 3:18:35
  cake and another helping of preserves. Oh, Marilla, it's a wonderful sensation
• 3:18:39
  just to think of it. Can I take her into the spare room to
• 3:18:43
  lay off her hat when she comes, and then into the parlor to sit.
• 3:18:46
  No, the sitting room will do for you and your company. But
• 3:18:48
  there is a bottle half full of raspberry cordial that was left over from the
• 3:18:52
  church social the other night. It's on the second shelf of the sitting room
• 3:18:56
  closet, and you and Diana can have it if you like, and a
• 3:18:58
  cookie to eat with it in the afternoon. For I dare say, Matthew'll
• 3:19:01
  be late coming in to tea since he's hauling potatoes to the vessel. Anne
• 3:19:05
  flew down to the hollow, past the dryerd's bubble, and up the spruce
• 3:19:09
  path to orchard slope to ask Diana to tea. As a result, just
• 3:19:13
  after Marilla had driven off to Carmody, Diana came over, dressed in her
• 3:19:16
  second best dress and looking exactly as it is proper to look when asked out
• 3:19:20
  to tea. At other times she was wont to run into the kitchen without
• 3:19:22
  knocking, but now she knocked primly at the front door, and when Anne,
• 3:19:26
  dressed in her second best as primly opened it, both little girls shook
• 3:19:31
  hands as gravely as if they had never met before. This unnatural solemnity lasted
• 3:19:35
  until after Diana had been taken to the east gable to lay off her hat,
• 3:19:39
  and then had sat for ten minutes in the sitting room toes and position.
• 3:19:43
  How is your mother, inquired Anne politely, just as if she had
• 3:19:46
  not seen missus Barry picking apples that morning in excellent health and spirits. She
• 3:19:50
  is very well, thank you. I suppose mister Cuthbert is hauling potatoes to
• 3:19:54
  the lily sands this afternoon, is he said Diana, who had ridden down
• 3:19:58
  to mister Harmon Andrews that morning in Matthew's Yes, our potato crop is very
• 3:20:01
  good this year. I hope your father's crop is good too. It is
• 3:20:05
  fairly good. Thank you. Have you picked many of your apples? Yet?
• 3:20:09
  Oh? Ever, so many? Said Anne, forgetting to be dignified
• 3:20:11
  and jumping up quickly. Let's go out to the orchard and get some of
• 3:20:15
  the red sweetings, Diana, Marilla says, we can have all there are
• 3:20:18
  left on the tree. Marilla is a very generous woman. She said.
• 3:20:20
  We could have fruitcake and cherry preserves for tea. But it isn't good manners
• 3:20:24
  to tell your company what you are going to give them to eat, so
• 3:20:26
  I won't tell you what she said we could have to drink. Only it
• 3:20:30
  begins with an R and a CEA, and it's a bright red color.
• 3:20:33
  I love bright red drinks, don't you. They taste twice as good as
• 3:20:35
  any other color. The orchard, with its great sweeping boughs that bent to
• 3:20:39
  the ground with fruit, proved so delightful that the little girl spent most of
• 3:20:43
  the afternoon in it, sitting in a grassy corner where the frost had spared
• 3:20:46
  the green and the mellow autumn sunshine lingered warmly, eating apples and talking as
• 3:20:50
  hard as they could. Diana had much to tell Anne of what went on
• 3:20:54
  in school. She had to sit with Gerty Pie, and she hated it.
• 3:20:58
  Gerty squeaked her pencil all the time, and it just made her.
• 3:21:01
  Diana's blood run cold. Ruby Gillis had charmed all her warts away. True's
• 3:21:05
  you live with a magic pebble that old Mary Joe from the Creek gave her.
• 3:21:09
  You had to rub the warts with the pebble and then throw it away
• 3:21:13
  over your left shoulder at the time of the new moon, and the warts
• 3:21:15
  would all go. Charlie Sloane's name was written up with em White's on the
• 3:21:18
  porch wall, and Anne White was awful mad about it. Sam Bolter had
• 3:21:22
  sassed mister Phillips in class and mister Phillips whipped him, and Sam's father came
• 3:21:26
  down to the school and dared mister Phillips to lay a hand on one of
• 3:21:30
  his children again. And Mattie Andrews had a new red hood and a blue
• 3:21:33
  Crossover with tassels on it, and the airs she put on about it were
• 3:21:37
  perfectly sickening. And Lizzie Wright didn't speak to Mamie Wilson because Mammie Wilson's grown
• 3:21:41
  up sister had cut out Lizzie Wright's grown up sister with her bow. And
• 3:21:45
  everybody missed Anne so and wished she'd come to school again, and Gilbert blythe
• 3:21:48
  but Anne didn't want to hear about Gilbert Blyfe. She jumped up hurriedly and
• 3:21:52
  said, suppose they go in and have some raspberry cordial. Anne looked on
• 3:21:56
  the second shelf of the room pantry, but there was no bottle of raspberry
• 3:22:00
  cordial there. Search revealed it away back on the top shelf. Anne put
• 3:22:03
  it on a tray and set it on the table with a tumbler. Now,
• 3:22:07
  please help yourself, Diana, she said, politely, I don't believe
• 3:22:09
  i'll have any just now. I don't feel as if I wanted any after
• 3:22:13
  all those apples. Diana poured herself out a tumblerful, looked at its bright
• 3:22:18
  red hue, admiringly, and then sipped it daintily. That's awfully nice raspberry
• 3:22:22
  cordial, Anne, She said, I didn't know raspberry cordial was so nice.
• 3:22:26
  I'm real glad you like it. Take as much as you want.
• 3:22:28
  I'm going to run out and stir the fire up. There are so many
• 3:22:31
  responsibilities on a person's mind when they're keeping house, isn't there. When Anne
• 3:22:35
  came back from the kitchen, Diana was drinking her second glass full of cordial
• 3:22:39
  and being entreated there too by Anne. She offered no particular objection to the
• 3:22:43
  drinking of a third. The tumbler fools were generous ones, and the raspberry
• 3:22:46
  cordial was certainly very nice, the nicest I ever drank, said Diana.
• 3:22:52
  It's ever so much nicer than missus Lynde's. Although she brags of hers so
• 3:22:54
  much, it doesn't taste a bit like hers. I should think Marilla's raspberry
• 3:22:58
  cordial would probably be nicer than missus Lynde's, said Anne loyally. Marilla is
• 3:23:03
  a famous cook. She is trying to teach me to cook. But I
• 3:23:05
  assure you, Diana, it is up hill work. There is so little
• 3:23:09
  scope for imagination. In cookery, you just have to go buy rules.
• 3:23:13
  The last time I made a cake, I forgot to put the flour in.
• 3:23:16
  I was thinking the loveliest story about you and me, Diana. I
• 3:23:18
  thought you were desperately ill with small pox, and everybody deserted you. But
• 3:23:22
  I went boldly to your bedside and nursed you back to life. And then
• 3:23:26
  I took the small pox and died. And I was buried under those poplar
• 3:23:28
  trees in the graveyard. And you planted a rose bush by my grave and
• 3:23:31
  watered it with your tears. And you never never forgot the friend of your
• 3:23:35
  youth who sacrificed her life for you. Oh, it was such a pathetic
• 3:23:39
  tale, Diana. The tears just rained down over my cheeks while I mixed
• 3:23:43
  the cake. But I forgot the flour, and the cake was a dismal
• 3:23:46
  failure. Flour is so essential to cakes, you know. Marilla was very
• 3:23:50
  cross, and I don't wonder I'm a great trial to her. She was
• 3:23:54
  terribly mortified about the pudding sauce. Last week. We had a plum pudding
• 3:23:58
  for dinner on Tuesday, and there was the pudding in a pitcherful of sauce.
• 3:24:01
  Left over. Marilla said there was enough for another dinner and told me
• 3:24:05
  to set it on the pantry shelf and cover it. I meant to cover
• 3:24:07
  it just as much as could be, Diana, But when I carried it
• 3:24:09
  in, I was imagining I was a nun. Of course, I'm a
• 3:24:13
  Protestant, but I imagined I was a Catholic, taking the veil to bury
• 3:24:16
  a broken heart and cloistered seclusion. And I forgot all about covering the pudding
• 3:24:20
  sauce. I thought of it next morning and ran to the pantry. Diana,
• 3:24:24
  fancy if you can my extreme horror at finding a mouse drowned in that
• 3:24:28
  pudding sauce. I lifted the mouse out with a spoon and threw it out
• 3:24:31
  in the yard, and then I washed the spoon in three waters. Marilla
• 3:24:35
  was out milking, and I fully intended to ask her when she came in
• 3:24:37
  if i'd give the sauce to the pigs. But when she did come in,
• 3:24:41
  I was imagining that I was a frost fairy, going through the woods,
• 3:24:43
  turning the trees red and yellow whichever they wanted to be. So I
• 3:24:46
  never thought about that pudding sauce again. And Marilla sent me out to pick
• 3:24:50
  apples. Well, mister and missus Chester Ross from Spencervale came here that morning.
• 3:24:54
  You know they're very stylish people, especially missus Chester Ross. When marilla
• 3:24:58
  ca dinner was all ready and everybody was at the table, I tried to
• 3:25:03
  be as polite and dignified as I could be, for I wanted missus Chester
• 3:25:05
  Ross to think I was a ladylike little girl, even if I wasn't pretty.
• 3:25:09
  Everything went right until I saw Marilla coming with the plum pudding in one
• 3:25:13
  hand and the pitcher of pudding sauce warmed up in the other. Diana,
• 3:25:18
  that was a terrible moment. I remembered everything, and I just stood up
• 3:25:20
  in my place and shrieked out, Marilla, you mustn't use that pudding sauce.
• 3:25:24
  There was a mouse drowned in it. I forgot to tell you before.
• 3:25:26
  Oh Diana, I shall never forget that awful moment if I live to
• 3:25:31
  be a hundred. Missus Chester Ross just looked at me, and I thought
• 3:25:35
  I would sing through the floor with mortification. She is such a perfect housekeeper,
• 3:25:39
  and fancy what she must have thought of us. Marilla turned red as
• 3:25:41
  fire, but she never said a word. Then she just carried that sauce
• 3:25:46
  in, putting out and brought in some strawberry preserves. She even offered me
• 3:25:48
  some, but I couldn't swallow a mouthful. It was like keeping coals of
• 3:25:52
  fire on my head. After missus Chester Ross went away, Marilla gave me
• 3:25:56
  a dreadful scolding. Why Diana, what is the matter? Diana had stood
• 3:26:03
  up very unsteadily. Then she sat down again, putting her hands to her
• 3:26:05
  head. I'm I'm awful sick, she said a little thickly. I I
• 3:26:11
  must go right home. Oh you mustn't dream of going home without your tea,
• 3:26:15
  cried Anne in distress. I'll get it right off. I'll go and
• 3:26:18
  put the tea down this very minute. I must go home, repeated Diana,
• 3:26:22
  stupidly but determinedly. Let me get you a lunch, anyhow, implored
• 3:26:26
  Anne. Let me give you a bit of fruit cake and some of the
• 3:26:28
  cherry preserves. Lie down on the sofa for a little while and you'll be
• 3:26:31
  better. Where do you feel bad? I must go home, said Diana,
• 3:26:37
  and that was all she would say. In vain, Anne pleaded,
• 3:26:39
  I never heard of company going home without tea. She mourned, Oh,
• 3:26:43
  Diana, do you suppose that it's possible you're really taking the smallpox? If
• 3:26:48
  you are, I'll go and nurse you. You can depend on that.
• 3:26:50
  I'll never forsake you. But I do wish you'd stay till after tea.
• 3:26:54
  Where do you feel bad? I'm awful dizzy, said Diana, and indeed
• 3:26:58
  she won'tked very dizzily. Anne, with tears of disappointment in her eyes,
• 3:27:03
  got Diana's hat and went with her as far as the berry Yard fence.
• 3:27:07
  Then she wept all the way back to Green Gables, where she sorrowfully put
• 3:27:09
  the remainder of the raspberry cordial back into the pantry and got tea ready for
• 3:27:13
  Matthew and Jerry, with all the zest gone out of the performance. The
• 3:27:18
  next day was Sunday, and as the rain poured down in Torrents from dawn
• 3:27:20
  till dusk, Anne did not stir abroad from green Gables. Monday afternoon,
• 3:27:26
  Marilla sent her down to missus Lynde's on an errand in a very short space
• 3:27:28
  of time, Anne came flying back up the lane with tears rolling down her
• 3:27:33
  cheeks. Into the kitchen, she dashed and flung herself face downward on the
• 3:27:37
  sofa in an agony. Whatever has gone wrong now, Anne queried Marilla,
• 3:27:41
  in doubt and dismay. I do hope you haven't gone and been saucy to
• 3:27:45
  missus Lynde again. No answer from Anne, save more tears than stormier sobs
• 3:27:50
  Anne, Shirley, when I ask you a question, I want to be
• 3:27:52
  answered, sit right up this very minute and tell me what you are crying
• 3:27:56
  about. Anne sat up. Tragedy personified. Missus Lynde was up to see
• 3:28:01
  Missus Barry to day, and Missus Barry was in an awful state, she
• 3:28:05
  wailed. She says that I set Diana drunk Saturday and set her home in
• 3:28:09
  a disgraceful condition. And she says, I must be a thoroughly bad,
• 3:28:11
  wicked little girl, and she's never never going to let Diana play with me
• 3:28:16
  again. Oh, Marilla, I'm just overcome with woe. Marilla stared in
• 3:28:20
  blank amazement. Set Diana drunk? She said. When she found her voice,
• 3:28:26
  Anne, are you or Missus Barry crazy? What on earth did you
• 3:28:30
  give her? Not a thing but raspberry cordial? Sobbed Anne. I never
• 3:28:35
  thought raspberry cordial would set people drunk, Marilla not even if they drank three
• 3:28:39
  big tumblerfuls as Diana did. Oh, it sounds so so like Missus Thomas's
• 3:28:45
  husband. But I didn't mean to set her drunk drunk fiddlesticks, said Marilla,
• 3:28:50
  marching to the sitting room pantry. There on the shelf was a bottle
• 3:28:54
  which she at once recognized as one containing some of her three year old home
• 3:28:58
  made currant wine, for she was celebrated in Avonlea, although certain of the
• 3:29:01
  stricter sort, Missus Barry among them, disapproved strongly of it, and at
• 3:29:07
  the same time Marilla recollected that she had put the bottle of raspberry cordial down
• 3:29:11
  in the cellar instead of in the pantry as she had told Anne. She
• 3:29:13
  went back to the kitchen with a wine bottle in her hand. Her face
• 3:29:16
  was twitching in spite of herself. Anne, you certainly have a genius for
• 3:29:20
  getting into trouble. You went and gave Diana currant wine instead of raspberry cordial.
• 3:29:26
  Didn't you know the difference yourself? I never tasted it, said Anne.
• 3:29:30
  I thought it was the cordial. I meant to be so so hospitable.
• 3:29:35
  Diana got awfully sick and had to go home. Missus Barry told Missus
• 3:29:39
  Lynde she was simply dead drunk. She just laughed silly like when her mother
• 3:29:43
  asked what was the matter, and went to sleep and slept for hours.
• 3:29:46
  Her mother smelled her breath and knew she was drunk. She had a fearful
• 3:29:50
  headache all day yesterday. Missus Barry is so indignant, she will never believe
• 3:29:54
  at what I did it on purpose. I should think she would better punish
• 3:29:58
  Diana for being so good to drink three glassfels of anything, said Marilla shortly.
• 3:30:03
  Why three of those big glasses would have made her sick even if it
• 3:30:05
  had only been cordial. Well, this story will be a nice handle for
• 3:30:11
  those folks who are so down on me for making currant wine, although I
• 3:30:13
  haven't made any for three years ever since I found out that the minister didn't
• 3:30:16
  approve. I just kept that bottle for sickness there there, child, don't
• 3:30:20
  cry. I can't see as you were to blame, although I'm sorry it
• 3:30:24
  happened, so I must cry, said Anne. My heart is broken.
• 3:30:28
  The stars in their courses fight against me, Marilla. Diana and I are
• 3:30:33
  parted forever, Oh Marilla, I little dreamed of this when first we swore
• 3:30:37
  our vows of friendship. Don't be foolish, Anne, Missus Barry will think
• 3:30:41
  better of it when she finds you're not to blame. I suppose she thinks
• 3:30:45
  you've done it for a silly joke or something of that sort. You'd best
• 3:30:48
  go up this evening and tell her how it was. My courage fails me
• 3:30:50
  at the thought of facing Diana's injured mother, sighed Anne. I wish you'd
• 3:30:54
  go, Marilla. You're so much more dignified than I am. Likely she'd
• 3:30:58
  listen to you quicker than to me. Well, I will, said Marilla,
• 3:31:03
  reflecting that it would probably be the wiser course. Don't cry any more,
• 3:31:05
  Anne, it will be all right. Marilla had changed her mind about
• 3:31:09
  it being all right. By the time she got back from Orchard Slope.
• 3:31:13
  Anne was watching for her coming and flew to the porch door to meet her.
• 3:31:16
  Oh, Marilla, I know by your face that it's been no use,
• 3:31:20
  she said sorrowfully. Missus Barry won't forgive me. Missus Barry indeed,
• 3:31:24
  snapped Marilla. Of all the unreasonable women I ever saw, she's the worst.
• 3:31:28
  I told her it was all a mistake. And you weren't to blame.
• 3:31:31
  But she just simply didn't believe me, and she rubbed it well in
• 3:31:33
  about my currant wine and how I'd always said it couldn't have the least effect
• 3:31:37
  on anybody. I just told her plainly that currant wine wasn't meant to be
• 3:31:41
  drunk three tumblerfuls at a time, and that if a child I had to
• 3:31:43
  do with was so greedy, I'd sober her up with a right good spanking.
• 3:31:48
  Marilla whisked into the kitchen grievously disturbed, leaving a very much distracted little
• 3:31:52
  soul in the porch behind her. Presently, Anne stepped out, bare headed
• 3:31:56
  into the chill autumn dusk. Very determinedly and steadily, she took her way
• 3:32:00
  down through the sere clover field, over the log bridge, and up through
• 3:32:03
  the spruce grove, lighted by a pale little moon hanging low over the western
• 3:32:07
  woods. Missus Barry, coming to the door in answer to a timid knock,
• 3:32:11
  found a white lipped, eager eyed supplicant on the doorstep, her face
• 3:32:15
  hardened. Missus Barry was a woman of strong prejudices and dislikes, and her
• 3:32:18
  anger was of the cold sullen sort, which is always hardest to overcome to
• 3:32:22
  do her justice. She really believed Anne had made Diana drunk out of sheer
• 3:32:26
  malice prepense, and she was honestly anxious to preserve her little daughter from the
• 3:32:31
  contamination of further intimacy with such a child. What do you want, she
• 3:32:35
  said stiffly. Anne clasped her hands. Oh, missus Barry, please forgive
• 3:32:39
  me. I did not mean to to intoxicate Diana. How could I just
• 3:32:45
  imagine if you were a poor little orphan girl that kind people had adopted,
• 3:32:48
  and you had just one bosom friend in all the world. Do you think
• 3:32:52
  you would intoxicate her on purpose? I thought it was only raspberry cordial.
• 3:32:56
  I was firmly convinced it was raspberry cordial. Oh please, don't say that
• 3:33:00
  you won't let Diana play with me any more. If you do, you
• 3:33:03
  will cover my life with a dark cloud of woe. This speech, which
• 3:33:07
  would have softened good missus Lynde's heart in a twinkling, had no effect on
• 3:33:11
  Missus Barry except to irritate her still more. She was suspicious of Anne's big
• 3:33:15
  words and dramatic gestures, and imagine that the child was making fun of her,
• 3:33:18
  so she said, coldly and cruelly, I don't think you are a
• 3:33:22
  fit little girl for Diana to associate with. You'd better go home and behave
• 3:33:24
  yourself. Anne's lips quivered. Won't you let me see Diana just once to
• 3:33:31
  say farewell? She implored. Diana has gone over to Carmody with her father,
• 3:33:35
  said Missus Barry, going in and shutting the door. Anne went back
• 3:33:39
  to Green Gables calm with despair. My last hope is gone, she told
• 3:33:43
  Marilla. I went up and saw Missus Barry myself, and she treated me
• 3:33:46
  very insultingly. Marilla, I do not think she is a well bred woman.
• 3:33:52
  There is nothing more to do except to pray, and I haven't much
• 3:33:54
  hope that that'll do much good, because Marilla, I do not believe the
• 3:33:58
  God God himself can do very much with such an obstinate person as Missus Barry.
• 3:34:03
  Anne, you shouldn't say such things, rebuked Marilla, striving to overcome
• 3:34:07
  that unholy tendency to laughter, which she was dismayed to find growing upon her.
• 3:34:11
  And indeed, when she told the whole story to Matthew that night,
• 3:34:15
  she did laugh heartily over Anne's tribulations. But when she slipped into the east
• 3:34:18
  gable before going to bed and found that Anne had cried herself to sleep,
• 3:34:22
  an unaccustomed softness crept into her face. Poor little soul, she murmured,
• 3:34:26
  lifting a loose curl of hair from the child's tear stained face. Then she
• 3:34:31
  bent down and kissed the flushed cheek on the pillow. End of Chapter sixteen.
• 3:34:37
  Chapter seventeen, A new interest in life. The next afternoon, Anne,
• 3:34:41
  bending over her patchwork at the kitchen window, happened to glance out and
• 3:34:46
  beheld Diana down by the dryad's bubble, beckoning mysteriously. In a trice,
• 3:34:50
  Anne was out of the house and flying down to the hollow, astonishment and
• 3:34:54
  hope struggling in her expressive eyes. But the hope faded when she saw Diana's
• 3:34:58
  dejected countenance. Your mother hasn't relented, she gasped. Diana shook her head
• 3:35:03
  mournfully. No, and oh, Anne, she says, I'm never to
• 3:35:07
  play with you again. I've cried and cried, and I told her it
• 3:35:09
  wasn't your fault. But it wasn't any use I had ever such a time
• 3:35:13
  coaxing her to let me come down and say good bye to you. She
• 3:35:16
  said, I was only to stay ten minutes, and she's timing me by
• 3:35:18
  the clock. Ten minutes isn't very long to say an eternal farewell, in,
• 3:35:24
  said Anne tearfully. Oh Diana, will you promise faithfully never to forget
• 3:35:28
  me, the friend of your youth, no matter what dearer friends may caress
• 3:35:31
  thee. Indeed, I will sobbed, Diana, And I'll never have another
• 3:35:37
  bosom friend I don't want to have. I couldn't love anybody as I love
• 3:35:41
  you, Oh, Diana, cried Anne, clasping her hands. Do you
• 3:35:45
  love me? Why? Of course I do. Didn't you know that?
• 3:35:48
  No, Anne drew a long breath. I thought you liked me, of
• 3:35:52
  course, but I never hoped you loved me. Why, Diana, I
• 3:35:56
  didn't think anybody could love me. Nobody ever has loved me since I can
• 3:36:00
  remember. Oh, this is wonderful. It's a ray of light which will
• 3:36:03
  forever shine on the darkness of a path severed from THEE. Diana, Oh,
• 3:36:07
  just say it once again. I love you devotedly, Anne, said
• 3:36:11
  Diana staunchly. And I always will. You may be sure of that.
• 3:36:16
  And I will always love thee. Diana said Anne, solemnly extending her hand.
• 3:36:20
  In the years to come, thy memory will shine like a star over
• 3:36:22
  my lonely life, as that last story we read together, says Diana,
• 3:36:28
  wilt thou give me a lock of thy jet black tresses in parting to treasure
• 3:36:31
  forevermore? Have you got anything to cut it with? Queried Diana, wiping
• 3:36:35
  away the tears which Anne's affecting accents had caused to flow afresh, and returning
• 3:36:39
  to practicalities. Yes, I've got my patchwork scissors in my apron pocket,
• 3:36:45
  fortunately, said Anne. She solemnly clipped one of Diana's curls. Fare THEE.
• 3:36:48
  Well, my beloved friend. Henceforth we must be as strangers, though
• 3:36:52
  living side by side. But my heart will ever be faithful to thee.
• 3:36:58
  Anne stood and watched Diana out of said mournfully, waving her hand to the
• 3:37:01
  latter whenever she turned to look back. Then she returned to the house,
• 3:37:05
  not a little consoled for the time being by this romantic parting. It's all
• 3:37:09
  over, she informed Marilla. I shall never have another friend. I'm really
• 3:37:13
  worse off than ever before, for I haven't even Katy, Maurice and Violetta.
• 3:37:18
  Now and even if I had, it wouldn't be the same. Somehow,
• 3:37:20
  little dream girls are not satisfying. After a real friend, Diana and
• 3:37:24
  I had such an affecting farewell down by the Spring. It will be sacred
• 3:37:28
  in my memory forever. I used the most pathetic language I could think of,
• 3:37:33
  and said, thou and thee, Thou and THEE seems so much more
• 3:37:35
  romantic than you. Diana gave me a lock of her hair, and I'm
• 3:37:39
  going to sew it up in a little bag and wear it round my neck
• 3:37:41
  all my life. Please see that it is buried with me, for I
• 3:37:45
  don't believe i'll live very long. Perhaps when she sees me lying cold and
• 3:37:48
  dead before her, Missus Barry may feel remorse for what she has done and
• 3:37:52
  will let Diana come to my funeral. I don't think there is much fear
• 3:37:56
  of your dying of grief, as long as you can talk, Anne said
• 3:37:58
  Marilla, unsympathithetically. The following Monday, Anne surprised Marilla by coming down from
• 3:38:03
  her room with her basket of books on her arm and hip and her lips
• 3:38:07
  primmed up into a line of determination. I'm going back to school, she
• 3:38:11
  announced. That is all there is left in life for me. Now that
• 3:38:13
  my friend has been ruthlessly torn from me in school, I can look at
• 3:38:16
  her and muse over days departed. You'd better muse over your lessons and sums,
• 3:38:22
  said Marilla, concealing her delight at this development of the situation. If
• 3:38:26
  you're going back to school, I hope you'll hear no more of breaking slates
• 3:38:28
  over people's heads and such carryings on. Behave yourself and do just what your
• 3:38:33
  teacher tells you. I'll try to be a model pupil, agreed Anne Dolefully.
• 3:38:37
  There won't be much fun in it, I expect, mister Phillips said
• 3:38:39
  Minnie Andrews was a model pupil, and there isn't a spark of imagination or
• 3:38:43
  life in her. She is just dull and poky and never seems to have
• 3:38:48
  a good time. But I feel so depressed that perhaps it will come easy
• 3:38:50
  to me now I'm going round by the road. I couldn't bear to go
• 3:38:54
  by the birch path all alone. I should weep bitter tears if I did.
• 3:39:00
  Anne was welcomed back to school with open arms. Her imagination had been
• 3:39:03
  sorely missed in games, and her voice in the singing and her dramatic ability
• 3:39:07
  in the perusal aloud of books. At dinner hour, Ruby Gillis smuggled three
• 3:39:11
  blue plums over to her during testament reading. Ella May mac Pherson gave her
• 3:39:15
  an enormous yellow pansy cut from the covers of a floral catalog, a species
• 3:39:18
  of desk decoration much prized in Avonlea school. Sophia Sloane offered to teach her
• 3:39:24
  a perfectly elegant new pattern of knit lace, so nice for trimming aprons.
• 3:39:28
  Katie Bolter gave her a perfume bottle to keep slate water in, and Julia
• 3:39:31
  Bell copied carefully on a piece of pale pink paper scalloped on the edges the
• 3:39:35
  following effusion when Twilight drops her curtain down and pins it with a star.
• 3:39:39
  Remember that you have a friend, though she may wander far. It's so
• 3:39:43
  nice to be appreciated, sighed Anne rapturously to Marilla that night. The girls
• 3:39:48
  were not the only scholars who appreciated her. When Anne went to her seat
• 3:39:52
  after dinner hour, she had been told by mister Phillips to sit with the
• 3:39:56
  model Minnie Andrews. She found on her desk a big, luscious straw alberry
• 3:40:00
  apple. Anne caught it up, all ready to take a bite, when
• 3:40:03
  she remembered that the only place in Avonlea where strawberry apples grew was in the
• 3:40:07
  old blithe orchard on the other side of the Lake of Shining Waters. Anne
• 3:40:11
  dropped the apple as if it were a red hot coal, and ostentatiously wiped
• 3:40:15
  her fingers on her handkerchief. The apple lay untouched on her desk until the
• 3:40:18
  next morning, when little Timothy Andrews who swept the school and kindled the fire
• 3:40:22
  and next it is one of his perquisites. Charlie Sloane's slate pencil, gorgeously
• 3:40:26
  bedizened with striped red and yellow paper, costing two cents where ordinary pencils cost
• 3:40:31
  only one, which he sent up to her after dinner hour, met with
• 3:40:35
  a more favorable reception. Anne was graciously pleased to accept it, and rewarded
• 3:40:39
  the donor with a smile which exalted that infatuated youth straightway into the seventh Heaven
• 3:40:43
  of Delight, and caused him to make such fearful errors in his dictation that
• 3:40:46
  mister Phillips kept him after school to rewrite it, but as the Caesar's pageant
• 3:40:52
  shorn of brutus bus did, but of Rome's best son remind her more so,
• 3:40:56
  the marked absence of any tribute or recognition from Diana Barry, who was
• 3:41:00
  sitting with Gertie Pie, embittered Anne's little triumph. Diana might just have smiled
• 3:41:05
  at me once. I think she mourned to Marilla that night. But the
• 3:41:09
  next morning, a note most fearfully and wonderfully twisted and folded and a small
• 3:41:13
  parcel were passed across to Anne. Dear Anne Ran, the former mother says,
• 3:41:18
  I'm not to play with you or talk to you even in school.
• 3:41:20
  It isn't my fault, and don't be cross at me, because I love
• 3:41:24
  you as much as ever. I miss you awfully to tell all my secrets
• 3:41:26
  to. And I don't like Gertie Pie one bit. I made you one
• 3:41:31
  of the new bookmarkers out of red tissue paper. They're awfully fashionable now and
• 3:41:35
  only three girls in school know how to make them. When you look at
• 3:41:37
  it, remember your true friend, Diana Barry. Anne read the note,
• 3:41:43
  kissed the bookmark, and despatched a prompt reply back to the other side of
• 3:41:46
  the school my own darling Diana. Of course I am not cross at you,
• 3:41:50
  because you have to obey your mother. Our spirits can commune. I
• 3:41:54
  shall keep your lovely present forever. Minnie Andrews is a very nice little girl,
• 3:41:58
  although she has no imagination. But after having been Diana's bosom friend,
• 3:42:01
  I cannot be Minnie's. Please excuse mistakes, because my spelling isn't very good
• 3:42:05
  yet, although much improved yours. Until death do us part? Anne or
• 3:42:09
  Cordelia Shirley p S. I shall sleep with your letter under my pillow tonight.
• 3:42:15
  A or C. S. Marilla pessimistically expected more trouble since Anne had
• 3:42:20
  again begun to go to school, but none developed. Perhaps Anne caught something
• 3:42:24
  of the model spirit from Minnie Andrews. At least she got on very well
• 3:42:28
  with mister Phillips. Thenceforth she flung herself into her studies heart and soul,
• 3:42:31
  determined not to be outdone in any class by Gilbert Blyfe. The rivalry between
• 3:42:37
  them was soon apparent. It was entirely good natured on Gilbert's side, But
• 3:42:39
  it is much to be feared that the same thing cannot be said of Anne,
• 3:42:43
  who had certainly an unpraiseworthy tenacity for holding grudges. She was as intense
• 3:42:48
  in her hatreds as in her loves. She would not stoop to admit that
• 3:42:50
  she meant a rival Gilbert in schoolwork, because that would have been to acknowledge
• 3:42:54
  his existence, which Anne persistently ignored. But the rivalry was there, and
• 3:42:58
  honors fled scituated between them. Now Gilbert was head of the spelling class.
• 3:43:03
  Now Anne, with a toss of her long red braids, spelled him down.
• 3:43:07
  One morning, Gilbert had all his sons done correctly and had his name
• 3:43:09
  written on the blackboard on the roll of honour. The next morning, Anne,
• 3:43:13
  having wrestled wildly with decimals the entire evening before, would be first.
• 3:43:18
  One awful day, they were ties, and their names were written up together.
• 3:43:22
  It was almost as bad as a take notice, and Anne's mortification was
• 3:43:24
  as evident as Gilbert's satisfaction. When the written examinations at the end of each
• 3:43:28
  month were held, the suspense was terrible. The first month, Gilbert came
• 3:43:33
  out three marks ahead. The second, Anne beat him by five, but
• 3:43:37
  her triumph was marred by the fact that Gilbert congratulated her hardly Before the whole
• 3:43:39
  school. It would have been ever so much sweeter to her if he had
• 3:43:43
  felt the sting of his defeat. Mister Phillips might not be a very good
• 3:43:46
  teacher, but a pupil so inflexibly determined on learning as Anne was could hardly
• 3:43:50
  escape making progress under any kind of teacher. By the end of the term,
• 3:43:54
  Anne and Gilbert were both promoted into the fifth class and allowed to begin
• 3:43:58
  studying the elements of the branches by which Latin, geometry, French and algebra
• 3:44:01
  were meant. In geometry, Anne met her waterloo. It's perfectly awful stuff,
• 3:44:07
  Marilla, she groaned. I'm sure I'll never be able to make head
• 3:44:11
  or tail of it. There is no scope for imagination in it at all.
• 3:44:15
  Mister Phillip says, I'm the worst dunce he ever saw at it,
• 3:44:18
  and gil I mean, some of the others are so smart at it.
• 3:44:20
  It's extremely mortifying, Marilla. Even Diana gets along better than I do.
• 3:44:26
  But I don't mind being beaten by Diana. Even although we meet as strangers
• 3:44:30
  now, I still love her with an inextinguishable love. It makes me very
• 3:44:33
  sad at times to think about her. But really, Marilla, one can't
• 3:44:37
  stay sad very long in such an interesting world can one end of chapter seventeen,
• 3:44:43
  Chapter eighteen, and to the rescue, all things great are wound up
• 3:44:48
  with all things little. At first glance, it might not seem that the
• 3:44:52
  decision of a certain Canadian premier to include Prince Edward Island in a political tour
• 3:44:56
  could have much or anything to do with the fortunes of little Anne. Surely
• 3:45:00
  at Green Gables, but it had. It was a January the premier came
• 3:45:05
  to address his loyal supporters in such of his non supporters as chose to be
• 3:45:07
  present at the monster Mass meeting held in Charlottetown. Most of the Avonlea people
• 3:45:13
  were on the premier side of politics. Hence, on the night of the
• 3:45:16
  meeting, nearly all the men and a goodly proportion of the women had gone
• 3:45:20
  to town thirty miles away. Missus Rachel Lynde had gone too. Missus Rachel
• 3:45:24
  Lynde was a red hot politician and couldn't have believed that the political rally could
• 3:45:28
  be carried through without her, although she was on the opposite side of politics,
• 3:45:31
  so she went to town and took her husband, Thomas would be useful
• 3:45:35
  in looking after the horse and Marilla Cuthbert with her. Marilla had a sneaking
• 3:45:39
  interest in politics herself, and as she thought it might be her only chance
• 3:45:43
  to see a real, live premier, she promptly took it, leaving Anne
• 3:45:46
  and Matthew to keep house until her return the following day. Hence, while
• 3:45:50
  Marilla and missus Rachel were enjoying themselves hugely at the mass meeting, Anne and
• 3:45:54
  Matthew had the cheerful kitchen at Green Gables all to themselves. A bright fire
• 3:45:58
  was glowed in the old fashioned waterloose stove, and blue white frost crystals were
• 3:46:03
  shining on the window panes. Matthew nodded over a farmer's advocate on the sofa,
• 3:46:07
  and Anne at the table studied her lessons with grim determination, despite sundry
• 3:46:13
  wistful glances at the clock shelf, where lay a new book that Jane Andrews
• 3:46:16
  had lent her that day. Jane had assured her that it was warranted to
• 3:46:20
  produce any number of thrills or words to that effect, and Anne's fingers tingled
• 3:46:24
  to reach out for it, but that would mean Gilbert Blythe's triumph on the
• 3:46:28
  morrow, Anne turned her back on the clock shelf and tried to imagine it
• 3:46:31
  wasn't there, Matthew, did you ever study geometry when you went to school?
• 3:46:37
  Well, now, no, I didn't, said Matthew, coming out
• 3:46:39
  of his doze with a start. I wish you had, sighed Anne,
• 3:46:43
  because then you'd be able to sympathize with me. You can't sympathize properly if
• 3:46:48
  you've never studied it. It is casting a cloud over my whole life.
• 3:46:52
  I'm such a dunce at at Matthew. Well, now I don't know,
• 3:46:56
  said Matthew soothingly. I guess you're all right at anything. Mister Phillips told
• 3:47:00
  me last week in Blair's Store at Carmody that you was the smartest scholar in
• 3:47:03
  school and was making rapid progress. Rapid progress was his very words. There's
• 3:47:09
  them as runs down Teddy Phillips and says he ain't much of a teacher.
• 3:47:11
  But I guess he's all right. Matthew would have thought any one who praised
• 3:47:15
  Anne was all right. I'm sure I'd get on better with geometry if only
• 3:47:18
  he wouldn't change the letters, complained Anne. I learned the proposition off by
• 3:47:22
  heart, and then he draws it on the blackboard and puts different letters from
• 3:47:26
  what are in the book, and I get all mixed up. I don't
• 3:47:28
  think a teacher should take such a mean advantage to you. We're studying agriculture
• 3:47:33
  now, and I've found out at last what makes the roads read. It's
• 3:47:37
  a great comfort. I wonder how Marilla and missus lyndare enjoying themselves. Missus
• 3:47:41
  Lynde says Canada is going to the dogs the way things are being run at
• 3:47:45
  Ottawa, and that it's an awful warning to the electors. She says,
• 3:47:48
  if women were allowed to vote, we would soon see a blessed change.
• 3:47:52
  What way do you vote, Matthew, Conservative, said Matthew, promptly.
• 3:47:56
  To vote conservative was part of Matthew's religion. Then I'm conservative too, said
• 3:48:00
  Anne decidedly. I'm glad because Gil because some of the boys in school are
• 3:48:05
  Grits. I guess mister Phillips is a Grit too, because Prissy Andrew's father
• 3:48:07
  is one. And Ruby Gillis says that when a man is courting, he
• 3:48:11
  always has to agree with the girl's mother in religion and her father in politics.
• 3:48:16
  Is that true, Matthew, Well, now I dunno, said Matthew.
• 3:48:20
  Did you ever go courting? Matthew? Well, now, no,
• 3:48:24
  I dunnos I ever did, said Matthew, who had certainly never thought of
• 3:48:28
  such a thing in his old existence. Anne reflected, with her chin in
• 3:48:31
  her hands. It must be rather interesting, don't you think, Matthew.
• 3:48:35
  Ruby Gillis says, when she grows up, she is going to have ever
• 3:48:39
  so many bows on the string and have them all crazy about her. But
• 3:48:43
  I think that would be too exciting. I'd rather have just one in his
• 3:48:46
  right mind. But Ruby Gillis knows a great deal about such matters because she
• 3:48:50
  has so many big sisters, and missus Lynde says, the Gillis girls have
• 3:48:52
  gone off like hotcakes. Mister Phillips goes up to see Prissy Andrews nearly every
• 3:48:56
  evening. He says it is to help her with a lesson. But Mirandas
• 3:49:00
  Slown is studying for Queen's too, and I should think she needed help a
• 3:49:03
  lot more than Prissy, because she's ever so much stupider. But he never
• 3:49:07
  goes to help her in the evenings at all. There are great many things
• 3:49:09
  in this world that I can't understand very well. Matthew. Well, now
• 3:49:13
  I don't know, as I comprehend them all myself, acknowledged Matthew. Well,
• 3:49:18
  I suppose I must finish up my lessons. I won't allow myself to
• 3:49:20
  open that new book Jane lent me until I'm through. But it's a terrible
• 3:49:24
  temptation, Matthew. Even when I turn my back on it, I can
• 3:49:28
  see it there, just as plain Jane said, she cried herself sick over
• 3:49:31
  it. I love a book that makes me cry. But I think I'll
• 3:49:35
  carry that book into the sitting room and lock it in the jam closet and
• 3:49:37
  give you the key. And you must not give it to me, Matthew,
• 3:49:39
  until my lessons are done, not even if I implore you on my
• 3:49:43
  bended knees. It's all very well to say resist temptation, but it's ever
• 3:49:46
  so much easier to resist it if you can't get the key. And then
• 3:49:50
  shall I run down the cellar and get some russets, Matthew, wouldn't you
• 3:49:54
  like some Russets? Well, now, I don't know, but what I
• 3:49:56
  would, said Matthew, who never rate russets, but new Anne's weness for
• 3:50:00
  them. Just as Anne emerged triumphantly from the cellar with her plate full of
• 3:50:03
  russets. Came the sound of flying footsteps on the icy board walk outside,
• 3:50:07
  and the next moment the kitchen door was flung open, and in rushed Diana
• 3:50:11
  Barry, white faced and breathless, with a shawl wrapped hastily around her head.
• 3:50:16
  Anne promptly let go of her candle and plate in her surprise, and
• 3:50:18
  plate, candle and apples crashed together down the cellar ladder and were found at
• 3:50:22
  the bottom, embedded and melted grease the next day by Marilla, who gathered
• 3:50:26
  them up and thanked mercy. The house hadn't been set on fire. Whatever
• 3:50:30
  is the matter, Diana cried, Anne, has your mother relented at last?
• 3:50:33
  Oh Anne, do come quick, implored Diana nervously. Minnie May's awful
• 3:50:39
  sick, she's got croup. Young Mary Joe says an father and mother are
• 3:50:41
  away to town. An there's nobody to go for the doctor. Minnie May's
• 3:50:45
  awful bad and young Mary Joe doesn't know what to do. And oh,
• 3:50:48
  Anne, I'm so scared. Matthew, without a word, reached out for
• 3:50:52
  cap and coat, slipped past Diana and away into the darkness of the yard.
• 3:50:56
  He's gone to Harness the sorrel mare to go to Carmody for the doctor,
• 3:50:58
  said Anne, who was her urrying on hood and jacket. I know
• 3:51:01
  it as well as if he'd said so. Matthew and I are such kindred
• 3:51:03
  spirits. I can read his thoughts without words at all. I don't believe
• 3:51:07
  he'll find the doctor at Carmody, sobbed Diana. I know that doctor Blair
• 3:51:11
  went to town, and I guess doctor Spencer would go too. Young Mary
• 3:51:13
  Joe never saw anybody with croup, and missus Lyndea's away. Oh Anne,
• 3:51:18
  don't cry die, said Anne cheerily. I know exactly what to do for
• 3:51:22
  croup. You forget that Missus Hammond had twins three times. When you look
• 3:51:26
  after three pairs of twins, you naturally get a lot of experience. They
• 3:51:28
  all had croup regularly. Just wait till I get the ipacac bottle. You
• 3:51:31
  may't Hevin at your house. Come on now. The two little girls hastened
• 3:51:37
  out, hand in hand, and hurried through Lovers Lane and across the crusted
• 3:51:39
  field beyond, for the snow was too deep to go by the shorter wood
• 3:51:43
  way. Anne, although sincerely sorry for Minnie, May was far from being
• 3:51:46
  insensible to the romance of the situation and to the sweetness of once more sharing
• 3:51:50
  that romance with a kindred spirit. The night was clear and frosty, all
• 3:51:56
  ebony of shadow and silver of snowy slope. Big stars were shining over the
• 3:52:00
  silent fields. Here and there the dark pointed firs stood up, with snow
• 3:52:03
  powdering their branches and the wind whistling through them. Anne thought it was truly
• 3:52:07
  delightful to go skimming through all this mystery and loveliness with your bosom friend who
• 3:52:11
  had been so long estranged. Minnie May, aged three, was really very
• 3:52:18
  sick. She lay on the kitchen sofa, feverish and restless, while her
• 3:52:22
  hoarse breathing could be heard all over the house. Young Mary Joe, a
• 3:52:26
  buxom, broad faced French girl from the Creek, whom Missus Barry had engaged
• 3:52:30
  to stay with the children during her absence, was helpless and bewildered, quite
• 3:52:33
  incapable of thinking what to do, or doing it if she thought of it.
• 3:52:37
  Anne went to work with skill and promptness. Minnie May has croup,
• 3:52:41
  all right, She's pretty bad, but I've seen them worse. First,
• 3:52:43
  we must have lots of hot water. I declare, Diana, there isn't
• 3:52:46
  more than a cupful in the kettle. There. I've filed it up,
• 3:52:50
  and Marry Joe, you may put some wood in the stove. I don't
• 3:52:52
  want to hurt your feelings, but it seems to me you might have thought
• 3:52:54
  of this before, if you'd had any imagination. Now I'll undress Minnie May
• 3:52:58
  and put her to bed, and you try to find some soft flannel cloths.
• 3:53:01
  Diana. I'm going to give her a dose of ippacac. First of
• 3:53:03
  all, Minnie May did not take kindly to the ippacac, but Anne had
• 3:53:07
  not brought up three pairs of twins for nothing. Down that ippocac went not
• 3:53:13
  only once, but many times during the long anxious night, when the two
• 3:53:16
  little girls worked patiently over the suffering Minnie May and young Mary Joe, honestly
• 3:53:20
  anxious to do all she could, kept up a roaring fire and heeded more
• 3:53:24
  water than would have been needed for a hospital of croopy babies. It was
• 3:53:28
  three o'clock when Matthew came with a doctor, for he had been obliged to
• 3:53:31
  go all the way to Spencervale for one but the pressing need for assistance was
• 3:53:35
  past. Minnie May was much better and was sleeping soundly. I was awfully
• 3:53:39
  near giving up in despair, explained Anne. She got worse and worse,
• 3:53:43
  until she was sicker than ever. The hamm and twins were even the last
• 3:53:46
  pair. I actually thought she was going to choke to death. I gave
• 3:53:50
  her every drop of ippacac in that bottle, and when the last dose went
• 3:53:52
  down, I said to myself not to Diana or young Mary Joe, because
• 3:53:56
  I didn't want to worry them any more than they were worried. But I
• 3:53:58
  had to say it myself just to relieve my feelings. This is the last
• 3:54:03
  lingering hope, and I fear tis a vain one. But in about three
• 3:54:05
  minutes she coughed up the phlegm and began to get better right away. You
• 3:54:09
  must just imagine my relief, doctor, because I can't express it in words.
• 3:54:13
  You know, there are some things that cannot be expressed in words.
• 3:54:16
  Yes, I know, nodded the doctor. He looked at Anne as if
• 3:54:20
  he were thinking some things about her that couldn't be expressed in words. Later
• 3:54:22
  on, however, he expressed them to mister and missus Barry. That little
• 3:54:26
  red headed girl they have over at Cuthbert's as smart as they make em.
• 3:54:30
  I tell you she saved that baby's life, for it would have been too
• 3:54:33
  late by the time I got there. She seems to have a skill and
• 3:54:35
  presence of mind perfectly wonderful in a child of her age. I never saw
• 3:54:39
  anything like the eyes of her when she was explaining the case to me.
• 3:54:43
  Anne had gone home in the wonderful, white frosted winter morning, heavy eyed
• 3:54:48
  from loss of sleep, but still talking unweariedly to Matthew as they crossed the
• 3:54:50
  long, wide field and walked under the glittering fairy arch of the Lover's Lane.
• 3:54:56
  Maples, Oh, Matthew, isn't it a wonderful morning? The world
• 3:55:00
  looks like something God had just imagined for his own pleasure, doesn't it.
• 3:55:03
  Those trees look as if I could blow them away with a breath. Pooh,
• 3:55:09
  I'm so glad I live in a world where there are white frosts,
• 3:55:11
  aren't you? And I'm so glad missus Hammond had three pairs of twins.
• 3:55:15
  After all, If she hadn't, I mightn't have known what to do for
• 3:55:18
  Minnie May. I'm real sorry I was ever cross with Missus Hammond for having
• 3:55:22
  twins. But oh, Matthew, I'm so sleepy. I can't go to
• 3:55:26
  school. I just know I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I'd be
• 3:55:30
  so stupid. But I hate to stay home for Gil. Some of the
• 3:55:33
  others will get head of the class, and it's so hard to get up
• 3:55:35
  again, although, of course the harder it is more satisfaction you have when
• 3:55:39
  you do get up, haven't you. Well now, I guess you'll manage,
• 3:55:43
  all right, said Matthew, looking at Anne's white little face and the
• 3:55:46
  dark shadows under her eyes. You just go right to bed and have a
• 3:55:50
  good sleep. I'll do all the chores. Anne accordingly went to bed and
• 3:55:54
  slept so long and soundly that it was well on in the white and rosy
• 3:55:58
  winter afternoon when she awoke and ascended to the kitchen, where Marilla, who
• 3:56:01
  had arrived home in the meantime, was sitting knitting. Oh did you see
• 3:56:05
  the premier, exclaimed Anne at once. What did he look like, Marilla?
• 3:56:09
  Well, he never got to be premier on account of his looks,
• 3:56:11
  said Marilla. Such a nose as that man had, but he can speak.
• 3:56:16
  I was proud of being a conservative Rachel Lynde, of course, being
• 3:56:20
  a liberal had no use for him. Your dinner is in the oven,
• 3:56:22
  Anne, and you can get yourself some blue plum preserve out of the pantry.
• 3:56:26
  I guess you're hungry. Matthew has been telling me about last night.
• 3:56:30
  I must say it was fortunate you knew what to do. I wouldn't have
• 3:56:33
  had any idea myself, for I never saw a case of croup there.
• 3:56:35
  Now. Never mind talking till you've had your dinner. I can tell by
• 3:56:39
  the look of you that you're just full up with speeches. But they'll keep.
• 3:56:43
  Marilla had something to tell Anne, but she did not tell it just
• 3:56:46
  then, for she knew that if she did, Anne's consequent excitement would lift
• 3:56:50
  her clear out of the region of such material matters as appetite or dinner.
• 3:56:54
  Not until Anne had finished her saucer of blue plums did Marilla say, missus
• 3:56:58
  Barry was here this afternoon. Anne. She wanted to see you, but
• 3:57:00
  I wouldn't wake you up. She says, you saved Minnie May's life,
• 3:57:03
  and she is very sorry she acted as she did in that affair of the
• 3:57:05
  currant wine. She says, she knows now you didn't mean to set Diana
• 3:57:09
  drunk, and she hopes you'll forgive her and be good friends with Diana again.
• 3:57:13
  You're to go over this evening if you like, For Diana can't stir
• 3:57:16
  outside on account of a bad cold she caught last night. Now, Anne,
• 3:57:18
  Shirley, for pity's sake, don't fly up into the air. The
• 3:57:22
  warning seemed not unnecessary, so uplifted and aeriel was Anne's expression and an attitude
• 3:57:26
  as she sprang to her feet, her face irradiated with the flame of her
• 3:57:30
  spirit. Oh, Marilla, can I go right now without washing my dishes?
• 3:57:35
  I'll wash them when I come back, but I cannot tie myself down
• 3:57:37
  to anything so unromantic as dish washing at this thrilling moment. Yes, yes,
• 3:57:41
  run along, said Marilla indulgently. Anne Shirley, are you crazy?
• 3:57:46
  Come back this instant and put something on you. I might as well call
• 3:57:48
  to the wind. She's gone without cap or rap. Look at her tearing
• 3:57:52
  through the orchard with her hair streaming. It'll be a mercy if she doesn't
• 3:57:56
  catch her death of cold. Anne came dancing home in the purple winter twilight
• 3:58:01
  across the snowy places afar in the southwest was the great shimmering pearl like sparkle
• 3:58:05
  of an evening star in a sky that was pale, golden and ethereal rose
• 3:58:11
  over gleaming white spaces and dark glens of spruce. The tinkles of sleigh bells
• 3:58:16
  among the snowy hills came like elfin chimes through the frosty air. But their
• 3:58:20
  music was not sweeter than the song in Anne's heart and on her lips.
• 3:58:24
  You see before you a perfectly happy person, Marilla, she announced, I'm
• 3:58:28
  perfectly happy. Yes, in spite of my red hair, just at present,
• 3:58:33
  I have a soul above red hair. Missus Barry kissed me and cried
• 3:58:37
  and said she was so sorry and she could never repay me. I felt
• 3:58:41
  fearfully embarrassed, Marilla, but I just said, as politely as I could,
• 3:58:45
  I have no hard feelings for you, Missus Barry. I assure you
• 3:58:48
  once and for all, I did not mean to intoxicate Diana, and henceforth
• 3:58:52
  I shall cover the pass with a mantle of oblivion. That was a pretty
• 3:58:54
  dignified way of speaking, wasn't it, Marilla. I felt that I was
• 3:58:58
  heaping coals of fire Missus Barry's head and Diana and I had a lovely afternoon.
• 3:59:03
  Diana showed me a new fancy crochet stitch. Her aunt over it.
• 3:59:07
  Carmody taught her not a soul, and Avonlea knows it but us, and
• 3:59:09
  we pledged a solemn vow never to reveal it to any one else. Diana
• 3:59:13
  gave me a beautiful card with a wreath of roses on it and a verse
• 3:59:16
  of poetry. If you love me as I love you, nothing but death
• 3:59:20
  can part us too, And that is true, Marilla. We're going to
• 3:59:24
  ask mister Phillips to let us sit together in school again, and Gertie Pike
• 3:59:26
  can go with Minnie Andrews. We had an elegant tea. Missus Barry had
• 3:59:31
  the very best china set out Marilla, just as if I was real company.
• 3:59:35
  I can't tell you what a thrill it gave me. Nobody ever used
• 3:59:37
  their best china on my account before. And we had fruit cake and pound
• 3:59:41
  cake and doughnuts and two kinds of preserves. Marilla and Missus Barry asked me
• 3:59:46
  if I took tea and said, PA, why don't you pass the biscuits
• 3:59:48
  to Anne? It must be lovely to be grown up, Marilla, when
• 3:59:52
  just being treated as if you were is so nice. I don't know about
• 3:59:56
  that, said Marilla, with a brief sigh. Well, anyway, when
• 3:59:58
  I am grown up, said Anne, decidedly, I'm always going to talk
• 4:00:03
  to little girls as if they were too, and I'll never laugh when they
• 4:00:05
  use big words. I know from sorrowful experience how that hurts one's feelings.
• 4:00:09
  After tea, Diana and I made taffy. The taffy wasn't very good,
• 4:00:13
  I suppose, because neither Diana nor I had ever made any before. Diana
• 4:00:18
  left me to stir it while she buttered the plates, and I forgot and
• 4:00:20
  let it burn. And then when we set it out on the platform to
• 4:00:22
  cool, the cat walked over one plate and that had to be thrown away.
• 4:00:26
  But the making of it was splendid fun. Then when I came home,
• 4:00:30
  missus Barry asked me to come over as often as I could, and
• 4:00:33
  Diana stood at the window and threw kisses to me all the way down to
• 4:00:35
  Lover's Lane. I assure you, Marilla, that I feel like praying to
• 4:00:39
  night, and I'm going to think out a special, brand new prayer in
• 4:00:41
  honor of the occasion. End of chapter eighteen. Chapter nineteen, A concert,
• 4:00:48
  a catastrophe, and a confession. Marilla, Can I go over to
• 4:00:52
  see Diana just for a minute, asked Anne, running breathlessly down from the
• 4:00:56
  east gable one February evening. I don't see what you want to be trapsing
• 4:01:00
  about after dark, four, said Marilla. Shortly, you and Diana walked
• 4:01:03
  home from school together and then stood down there in the snow for half an
• 4:01:07
  hour more. Your tongue's going the whole blessed time, clickety clack. So
• 4:01:11
  I don't think you're very badly off to see her again. But she wants
• 4:01:13
  to see me, pleaded Anne. She has something very important to tell me.
• 4:01:18
  How do you know she has because she just signaled to me from her
• 4:01:20
  window. We have arranged a way to signal with our candles and cardboard.
• 4:01:24
  We set the candle on the window sill and make flashes by passing the cardboard
• 4:01:28
  back and forth. So many flashes mean a certain thing. It was my
• 4:01:31
  idea, Marilla. I'll warrant you, it was, said Marilla emphatically.
• 4:01:35
  And the next thing you'll be setting fire to the curtains with your signaling.
• 4:01:39
  Nonsense. Oh, we're very careful, Marilla, and it's so interesting.
• 4:01:43
  Two flashes mean are you there? Three mean yes, and four no.
• 4:01:46
  Five mean come over as soon as possible, because I have something important to
• 4:01:50
  reveal. Diana has just signaled five flashes, and I'm really suffering to know
• 4:01:54
  what it is. Well, you needn't suffer any longer, said Marilla sarcastically.
• 4:01:58
  You can go. Oh, but you're to be back here in just
• 4:02:01
  ten minutes. Remember that Anne did remember it. Anne was back in the
• 4:02:05
  stipulated time. Although probably no mortal will ever know just what it cost her
• 4:02:09
  to confine the discussion of Diana's important communication within the limits of ten minutes,
• 4:02:13
  but at least she had made good use of them. Oh, Marilla,
• 4:02:16
  what do you think you know? Tomorrow is Diana's birthday? Well, her
• 4:02:20
  mother told her she could ask me to go home with her from school and
• 4:02:24
  stay all night with her. And her cousins are coming over from Newbridge in
• 4:02:26
  a big pung sleigh to go to the debating club concert at the Hall tomorrow
• 4:02:31
  night, and they are going to take Diana and me to the concert if
• 4:02:33
  you'll let me go, that is, you will, won't you? Marilla?
• 4:02:35
  Oh, I feel so excited. You can calm down then, because
• 4:02:39
  you're not going. You're better at home in your own bed. And as
• 4:02:43
  for that club concert, it's all nonsense and little girls should not be allowed
• 4:02:46
  to go out to such places at all. I'm sure the debating club is
• 4:02:50
  a most respectable affair, pleaded Anne. I'm not saying it isn't, but
• 4:02:54
  you're not going to begin gadding about to concerts and staying out all hours of
• 4:02:58
  the night. Pretty doings for children. I'm surprised at missus Barry's letting Diana
• 4:03:01
  go, but it's such a very special occasion, mourned Anne, on the
• 4:03:05
  verge of tears. Diana has only one birthday in a year. It isn't
• 4:03:11
  as if birthdays were common things. Marilla, Prissy Andrews is going to recite
• 4:03:15
  Curfew must not ring tonight. That is such a good moral piece, Marilla.
• 4:03:18
  I'm sure it would do me lots of good to hear it. And
• 4:03:22
  the choir are going to sing four lovely pathetic songs that are pretty near as
• 4:03:26
  good as hymns. And oh, Marilla, the Minister's going to take part,
• 4:03:28
  Yes, indeed he is. He's going to give an address that will
• 4:03:33
  be just about the same thing as a sermon. Please, mayn't I go,
• 4:03:35
  Marilla? You heard what I said, Anne, didn't you take off
• 4:03:39
  your boots now and go to bed. It's past eight. There's just one
• 4:03:43
  more thing, Marilla, said Anne, with the air of producing the last
• 4:03:46
  shot in her locker. Missus Barry told Diana that we might sleep in the
• 4:03:50
  spare room bed. Think of the honor of your little Anne being put in
• 4:03:52
  the spare room bed. It's an honor. You'll have to get along without
• 4:03:58
  go to bed, Anne, and don't let me hear another word out of
• 4:04:00
  you. When Anne, with tears rolling over her cheeks, had sorrowfully gone
• 4:04:03
  upstairs, Matthew, who had been apparently sound asleep on the lounge during the
• 4:04:07
  whole dialog, opened his eyes and said decidedly, well, now, Marilla,
• 4:04:13
  I think you ought to let Anne go. I don't, then retorted
• 4:04:16
  Marilla, who's bringing this child up, Matthew? You or me? Well,
• 4:04:20
  now you admitted Matthew, don't interfere. Then well, now I ain't
• 4:04:24
  interfering. It ain't interfering to have your own opinion, and my opinion is
• 4:04:30
  that you ought to let Anne go. You'd think I ought to let Anne
• 4:04:33
  go to the moon if she took the notion I've no doubt, was Marilla's
• 4:04:35
  amiable rejoinder. I might have let her spend the night with Diana if that
• 4:04:39
  was all, But I don't approve of this concert plan. She'd go there
• 4:04:43
  and catch cold like as not, and have her head filled up with nonsense
• 4:04:46
  and excitement. It would unsettle her for a week. I understand that child's
• 4:04:50
  disposition and what's good for it better than you, Matthew. I think you
• 4:04:54
  ought to let Anne go, repeated Matthew firmly. Argument was not his strong
• 4:04:58
  point, but holding fast to his opinion certainly was. Marilla gave a gasp
• 4:05:03
  of helplessness and took refuge in silence. The next morning, when Anne was
• 4:05:07
  washing the breakfast dishes in the pantry, Matthew paused on his way out to
• 4:05:11
  the barn to say to Marilla again, I think you ought to let Anne
• 4:05:13
  go. Marilla. For a moment, Marilla looked things not lawful to be
• 4:05:18
  uttered. Then she yielded to the inevitable and said, tartly, very well,
• 4:05:22
  she can go, since nothing else will please you. Anne flew out
• 4:05:26
  of the pantry, dripping dishcloth in hand, Oh Marilla, Marilla, say
• 4:05:28
  those blessed words again. I guess once is enough to say them. This
• 4:05:33
  is Matthew's doing, and I wash my hands of it. If you catch
• 4:05:35
  pneumonia, sleeping in a strange bed, or coming out of that hot hal
• 4:05:39
  in the middle of the night, don't blame me, blame Matthew. Anne,
• 4:05:43
  Shirley, you're dripping greasy water all over the floor. I never saw
• 4:05:46
  such a careless child. Oh, I know, I'm a great trial to
• 4:05:50
  you, Marilla, said Anne, repentantly. I make so many mistakes.
• 4:05:52
  But then just think of all the mistakes I don't make, although I might.
• 4:05:56
  I'll get some sand and scrub up the spots before I go to school.
• 4:06:00
  Oh, Marilla, my heart was just set on going to that concert.
• 4:06:03
  I never was to a concert in my life, and when the other
• 4:06:05
  girls talk about them in school, I feel so out of it. You
• 4:06:09
  didn't know just how I felt about it, But you see, Matthew did.
• 4:06:13
  Matthew understands me, and it's so nice to be understood. Marilla.
• 4:06:16
  Anne was too excited to do herself justice as to lessons that morning in school.
• 4:06:20
  Gilbert Blythe spelled her down in class and left her clear out of sight.
• 4:06:24
  In mental arithmetic, Anne's consequent humiliation was less than it might have been.
• 4:06:28
  However, in view of the concert and the spare room bed. She
• 4:06:31
  and Diana talked so constantly about it all day that with a stricter teacher than
• 4:06:35
  mister Phillips, dire disgrace must have inevitably have been their portion. Anne felt
• 4:06:39
  that she could not have borne it if she had not been going to the
• 4:06:43
  concert. For nothing else was discussed that day in school. The Avonlea Debating
• 4:06:46
  Club, which met fortnightly all winter, had had several smaller free entertainments,
• 4:06:50
  but this was to be a big affair. Admission ten cents in aid of
• 4:06:54
  the library. The Avonlea young people had been practicing for weeks, and all
• 4:06:58
  the scholars were specially interested in it by reason of older brothers and sisters who
• 4:07:03
  were going to take part. Everybody in school over nine years of age expected
• 4:07:07
  to go, except Carrie Sloane, whose father shared Marilla's opinions about small girls
• 4:07:11
  going out to night concerts. Carrie Sloane cried into her grammar all the afternoon
• 4:07:16
  and felt that life was not worth living. For Anne, the real excitement
• 4:07:20
  began with the dismissal of school, and increased their frowm in crescendo until it
• 4:07:24
  reached to a crash with positive ecstasy. In the concert itself, they had
• 4:07:28
  a perfectly elegant tea, and then came the delicious occupation of dressing in Diana's
• 4:07:31
  little room upstairs. Diana did Anne's front hair in the new pompadour style,
• 4:07:37
  and Anne tied Diana's bows with the especial knack she possessed, and they experimented
• 4:07:41
  with at least half a dozen different ways of arranging their back hair. At
• 4:07:45
  last they were ready, cheeks scarlet, and eyes glowing with excitement. True
• 4:07:48
  Anne could not help a little pang when she contrasted her plain black tam and
• 4:07:52
  shapeless tight sleeved home made gray cloth coat with Diana's jaunty fur cap and smart
• 4:07:58
  little jacket, but she remembered in time that she had an imagination and could
• 4:08:01
  use it. Then Diana's cousins, the Murrays from Newbridge, came. They
• 4:08:05
  all crowded into the big pung sleigh among straw and furry robes. Anne reveled
• 4:08:11
  in the drive to the hall, slipping along over the satin smooth roads,
• 4:08:13
  with the snow crisping under the runners. There was a magnificent sunset, and
• 4:08:18
  the snowy hills and deep blue water of the Saint Lawrence Gulf seemed to rim
• 4:08:22
  in the splendor like a huge bowl of pearl and sapphire, brimmed with white
• 4:08:26
  and fire. Tinkles of sleigh bells, and distant laughter that seemed like the
• 4:08:30
  mirth of wood elves came from every quarter. Oh, Diana, breathed Anne,
• 4:08:33
  squeezing Diana's middened hand under the fur robe. Isn't it all like a
• 4:08:37
  beautiful dream? Do I really look the same as usual? I feel so
• 4:08:41
  different that it seems to me it must show in my looks. You look
• 4:08:45
  awfully nice, said Diana, who, having just received a compliment from one
• 4:08:48
  of her cousins, felt that she ought to pass it on. You've got
• 4:08:52
  the loveliest color. The program that night was a series of thrills for at
• 4:08:56
  least one listener in the audience, and, as Anne assured Diana, every
• 4:09:00
  succeeding thrill was thrillier than the last. When Prissy Andrews attired in a new
• 4:09:05
  pink silk waist with a string of pearls about her smooth white throat and real
• 4:09:09
  carnations in her hair. Rumor whispered that the Master had sent all the weight
• 4:09:13
  to town for them for her. Climbed the slimy ladder, dark without one
• 4:09:16
  ray of light. Anne shivered in luxurious sympathy. When the choir sang far
• 4:09:22
  above the gentle daisies. Anne gazed at the ceiling as if it were frescoed
• 4:09:26
  with angels. When Sam Sloane proceeded to explain and illustrate how sockery set a
• 4:09:30
  hen, Anne laughed until people sitting near her laughed too, more out of
• 4:09:33
  sympathy with her than with amusement at a selection that was rather threadbare even in
• 4:09:37
  Avonlea. And when mister Phillips gave Mark Antony's oration over the dead body of
• 4:09:41
  Caesar in the most heart stirring tones, looking at Prissy Andrews at the end
• 4:09:46
  of every sentence, Anne felt that she could rise and mutiny on the spot
• 4:09:50
  if but one Roman citizen led the way. Only one number on the programme
• 4:09:54
  failed to interest her. When Gilbert Blythe recited bingin on the Rhine, Anne
• 4:09:58
  picked up Rhoda am Mary's library book and read it until he had finished,
• 4:10:01
  when she sat rigidly, stiff and motionless, while Diana clapped her hands until
• 4:10:05
  they tingled. It was eleven when they got home, sated with dissipation,
• 4:10:09
  but with the exceeding sweet pleasure of talking it all over still to come.
• 4:10:13
  Everybody seemed asleep, and the house was dark and silent. Anne and Diana
• 4:10:18
  tiptoed into the parlor, a long, narrow room out of which the spare
• 4:10:22
  room opened. It was pleasantly warm and dimly lighted by the embers of a
• 4:10:26
  fire in the grate. Let's undress here, said Diana. It's so nice
• 4:10:28
  and warm. Hasn't it been a delightful time? Sighed Anne rapturously. It
• 4:10:33
  must be splendid to get up and recite there. Do you suppose we will
• 4:10:37
  ever be asked to do it? Diana, Yes, of course some day.
• 4:10:41
  They're always wanting the big scholars to recite Gilbert Blythe does often, and
• 4:10:45
  he's only two years older than us. Oh, Anne, how could you
• 4:10:48
  pretend not to listen to him? When he came to the line, there's
• 4:10:50
  another, not a sister, He looked right down at you, Diana said
• 4:10:56
  Anne, with dignity. You are my bosom friend, but I cannot allow
• 4:11:00
  even you to speak to me of that person. Are you ready for bed?
• 4:11:03
  Let's run a race and see who'll get to the bed first, The
• 4:11:07
  suggestion appealed to Diana. The two little white clad figures flew down the long
• 4:11:11
  room through the spare room door, and bounded on the bed at the same
• 4:11:15
  moment. And then something moved beneath them. There was a gasp and a
• 4:11:20
  cry, and somebody said, in muffled accents, merciful goodness. Anne and
• 4:11:24
  Diana were never able to tell just how they got off that bed and out
• 4:11:28
  of the room. They only knew that after one frantic rush, they found
• 4:11:31
  themselves tiptoeing shiveringly upstairs. Oh who was it? What was it? Whispered
• 4:11:37
  Anne, her teeth chattering with cold and fright. It was Aunt Josephine,
• 4:11:41
  said Diana, gasping with laughter. Oh, Anne, it was Aunt Josephine.
• 4:11:45
  However she came to be there? Oh, and I know she will
• 4:11:48
  be furious. It's dreadful, It's really dreadful. But did you ever know
• 4:11:52
  anything so funny? Anne? Who is your aunt Josephine. She's father's aunt
• 4:11:56
  and she lives in Charlottetown. She's awfully old seventy anyhow, and I don't
• 4:12:01
  believe she was ever a little girl. We were expecting her out for a
• 4:12:03
  visit, but not so soon. She's awfully prim and proper, and she'll
• 4:12:07
  scold dreadfully about this. I know. Well, we'll have to sleep with
• 4:12:11
  Minnie May and you can't think how she kicks. Miss Josephine Barry did not
• 4:12:16
  appear at the early breakfast the next morning. Missus Barry smiled kindly at the
• 4:12:20
  two little girls. Did you have a good time last night? I tried
• 4:12:24
  to stay awake until you came home, for I wanted to tell you Aunt
• 4:12:26
  Josephine had come and that you would have to go upstairs after all, but
• 4:12:30
  I was so tired I fell asleep. I hope you didn't disturb your aunt
• 4:12:33
  Diana. Diana preserved a discreet silence, but she and Anne exchanged furtive smiles
• 4:12:37
  of guilty amusement across the table. Anne hurried home after breakfast, and so
• 4:12:41
  remained in blissful ignorance of the disturbance which presently resulted in the Barry household,
• 4:12:46
  until the late afternoon, when she went down to missus Lynde's on an errand
• 4:12:50
  for Marilla. So you and Diana nearly frightened poor old miss Barry to death
• 4:12:54
  last night, said missus Lynde severely, but with a twinkle in her eye.
• 4:12:58
  Missus Barry was here a few minutes ago on her way to Carmody.
• 4:13:01
  She's feeling real worried over it. Old miss Barry was in a terrible temper
• 4:13:03
  when she got up this morning, and Josephine Barry's temper is no joke.
• 4:13:07
  I can tell you that she wouldn't speak to Diana at all. It wasn't
• 4:13:11
  Diana's fault, said Anne, contriedly. It was mine. I suggested racing
• 4:13:16
  to see who would get into bed first. I knew it, said missus
• 4:13:20
  Lynde, with the exultation of a correct guesser. I knew that idea came
• 4:13:24
  out of your head. Well, it's made a nice lot of trouble.
• 4:13:26
  That's what old miss Barry came out to stay for a month. But she
• 4:13:28
  declares she won't stay another day and is going right back to town tomorrow Sunday.
• 4:13:33
  And all as it is, she'd have gone to day if they could
• 4:13:35
  have taken her. She had promised to pay for a quarter's music lessons for
• 4:13:39
  Diana, but now she is determined to do nothing at all for such a
• 4:13:41
  tom boy. Oh, I guess they had a lively time of it there
• 4:13:45
  this morning. The Barrys must feel cut up. Old Miss Barry is rich
• 4:13:48
  and they'd like to keep on the good side of her. Of course,
• 4:13:52
  Missus Barry didn't say just that to me. But I'm a pretty good judge
• 4:13:54
  of human nature, That's what I'm such an unlucky girl, mourned Anne.
• 4:14:00
  I'm always getting into scrapes myself and getting my best friends people I'd shed my
• 4:14:03
  heart's blood for into them too. Can you tell me why it is so,
• 4:14:07
  missus Lynde. It's because you're too heedless and impulsive child. That's what
• 4:14:11
  you never stop to think. Whatever comes into your head to say, or
• 4:14:15
  do you say, or do it without a moment's reflection. Oh but that's
• 4:14:18
  the best of it, protested Anne. Something just flashes into your mind so
• 4:14:22
  exciting, and you must out with it. If you stop to think it
• 4:14:24
  over, you spoil it all. Haven't you never felt that yourself, Missus
• 4:14:28
  Lynde. No, Missus Lynde had not. She shook her head sagely.
• 4:14:33
  You must learn to think a little, Anne, that's what The proverb you
• 4:14:37
  need to go by is, look before you leap, especially in de spare
• 4:14:39
  room beds. Missus Lynde laughed comfortably over her mild joke, but Anne remained
• 4:14:45
  pensive. She saw nothing to laugh at in the situation, which, to
• 4:14:48
  her eyes appeared very serious. When she left missus Lynde, she took her
• 4:14:52
  way across the crusted fields to Orchard Slope. Diana met her at the kitchen
• 4:14:56
  door. Your aunt Josephine was very cross about it, wasn't she whispered Anne.
• 4:15:01
  Yes, answered Diana, stifling a giggle with an apprehensive glance over her
• 4:15:05
  shoulder. At the closed sitting room door, she was fairly dancing with rage.
• 4:15:09
  Anne, Oh, how she scolded. She said I was the worst
• 4:15:13
  behaved girl she ever saw, and that my parents ought to be ashamed of
• 4:15:16
  the way they had brought me up. She says, she won't stay,
• 4:15:18
  and I'm sure I don't care, but father and mother do. Why didn't
• 4:15:22
  you tell them it was my fault? Demanded Anne. It's likely i'd do
• 4:15:26
  such a thing, isn't it, said Diana with just scorn. I'm no
• 4:15:30
  tell tale, Anne, Shirley, and anyhow, I was just as much
• 4:15:33
  to blame as you. Well, I'm going in to tell her myself,
• 4:15:35
  said Anne resolutely. Diana stared, Anne, surely you'd never why she'll eat
• 4:15:41
  you alive. Don't frighten me any more than I am frightened, implored Anne.
• 4:15:46
  I'd rather walk up to a cannon's mouth. But I've got to do
• 4:15:50
  it, Diana. It was my fault, and I've got to confess.
• 4:15:54
  I've had practice in confessing. Fortunately, well, she's in the room,
• 4:15:58
  said Diana. You can go in if you want to. I wouldn't dare,
• 4:16:00
  and I don't believe you'll do a bit of good with this encouragement.
• 4:16:04
  Anne bearded the lion in its den, that is to say, walked resolutely
• 4:16:08
  up to the sitting room door and knocked faintly. A sharp come in followed.
• 4:16:14
  Miss Josephine Barry, thin, prim and rigid, was knitting fiercely by
• 4:16:18
  the fire, her wrath quite unappeased, and her eyes snapping through her gold
• 4:16:22
  rimmed glasses. She wheeled around in her chair, expecting to see Diana,
• 4:16:26
  and beheld a white faced girl whose great eyes were brimmed up with a mixture
• 4:16:29
  of desperate courage and shrinking terror. Who are you, demanded, Miss Josephine
• 4:16:33
  Barry, without ceremony, I'm Man of green Gables, said the small visitor,
• 4:16:38
  tremulously, clasping her hands with her characteristic gesture. And I've come to
• 4:16:42
  confess, if you please confess what that? It was all my fault about
• 4:16:48
  jumping into bed on you last night. I suggested it. Diana would never
• 4:16:52
  have thought of such a thing. I am sure Diana is a very ladylike
• 4:16:55
  girl, Miss Barry, so you must see how unjust it is to blame
• 4:16:59
  her. Oh I must, hey, I rather think Diana did her share
• 4:17:03
  of the jumping, at least such carryings on in a respectable house. But
• 4:17:07
  we were only in fun, persisted Anne. I think you ought to forgive
• 4:17:11
  us, Miss Berry, now that we've apologized, and anyhow, please forgive
• 4:17:15
  Diana and let her have her music lessons. Diana's heart is set on her
• 4:17:18
  music lessons, Miss Barry, and I know too well what it is to
• 4:17:21
  set your heart on a thing and not get it. If you must be
• 4:17:23
  cross with anyone, be cross with me. I've been so used in my
• 4:17:26
  early days to having people cross at me. That I can endure it much
• 4:17:30
  better than Diana can. Much of the snap had gone out of the old
• 4:17:33
  lady's eyes by this time and was replaced by a twinkle of amused interest,
• 4:17:37
  but she still said severely, I don't think it is any excuse for you
• 4:17:41
  that you were only in fun. Little girls never indulged in that kind of
• 4:17:45
  fun when I was young. You don't know what it is to be awakened
• 4:17:47
  out of a sound sleep after a long and arduous journey by two great girls
• 4:17:51
  coming bouncing down on you. I don't know, but I can imagine,
• 4:17:55
  said Anne eagerly. I'm sure it must have been very disturbing, But then
• 4:17:59
  there is of it too. Have you any imagination, miss Berry, if
• 4:18:03
  you have just put yourself in our place. We didn't know there was anybody
• 4:18:07
  in that bed, and you nearly scared us to death. It was simply
• 4:18:10
  awful the way we felt, And then we couldn't sleep in the spare room
• 4:18:12
  after being promised. I suppose you are used to sleeping in spare rooms,
• 4:18:17
  but just imagine what you would feel like if you were a little orphan girl
• 4:18:19
  who never had such an honor. All the snap had gone by this time,
• 4:18:23
  Miss Barry actually laughed, a sound which caused Diana, waiting in speechless
• 4:18:29
  anxiety in the kitchen outside, to give a great gasp of relief. I
• 4:18:33
  am afraid my imagination is a little rusty. It's so long since I used
• 4:18:36
  it, she said. I dare say your claim to sympathy is just as
• 4:18:40
  strong as mine. It all depends on the way we look at it.
• 4:18:42
  Sit down here and tell me about yourself. I am very sorry I can't,
• 4:18:45
  said Anne firmly. I would like to, because you seem like an
• 4:18:48
  interesting lady, and you might even be a kindred spirit, although you don't
• 4:18:52
  look very much like it. But it is my duty to go home to
• 4:18:55
  Miss Marilla Cuthbert. Miss Marilla Cuthbert is a very kind lady who has taken
• 4:18:59
  me to up properly. She is doing her best, but it is very
• 4:19:03
  discouraging work. You must not blame her because I jumped on the bed.
• 4:19:06
  But before I go, I do wish you would tell me if you'll forgive
• 4:19:08
  Diana and stay just as long as you meant to in Avonlea. I think
• 4:19:12
  perhaps I will, if you will come over and talk to me occasionally,
• 4:19:15
  said Miss Barry that evening, Miss Barry gave Diana a silver bangle bracelet and
• 4:19:21
  told the senior members of the household that she had unpacked her valise. I've
• 4:19:25
  made up my mind to stay simply for the sake of getting better acquainted with
• 4:19:27
  that Anne girl, she said, frankly. She amuses me, and at
• 4:19:30
  my time of life, an amusing person is a rarity. Marilla's only comment
• 4:19:36
  when she heard the story was I told you so. This was for Matthew's
• 4:19:38
  benefit. Miss Barry stayed her month out and over. She was a more
• 4:19:44
  agreeable guest than usual for Anne kept her in good humor. They became firm
• 4:19:48
  friends. When Miss Barry went away, she said, remember you, Anne
• 4:19:52
  girl, when you come to town, you're to visit me and I'll put
• 4:19:53
  you in my very sparest spare room bed to sleep in. Miss Barry was
• 4:19:59
  a kindred spirit, after all, Anne confided to Marilla. You wouldn't think
• 4:20:03
  so to look at her, but she is. You don't find it out
• 4:20:06
  right at first, as in Matthew's case, but after a while you come
• 4:20:08
  to see it. Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.
• 4:20:12
  It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.
• 4:20:18
  End of chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty, a good imagination gone wrong.
• 4:20:23
  Spring had come once more to Green Gables, the beautiful, capricious, reluctant
• 4:20:29
  Canadian spring lingering along through April and May in a succession of sweet, fresh,
• 4:20:33
  chilly days with pink sunsets and miracles of resurrection and growth. The maples
• 4:20:38
  and lovers Lane were red budded, and little curly ferns pushed up around the
• 4:20:41
  Dryad's bubble. Away Up in the barrens behind mister Silas Sloane's place, the
• 4:20:47
  mayflowers blossomed out, pink and white stars of sweetness under their brown leaves.
• 4:20:52
  All the schoolgirls and boys had one golden afternoon gathering them coming home in the
• 4:20:56
  clear echoing twilight with arms and baskets full of flower spoil. I'm so sorry
• 4:21:02
  for people who live in lands where there are no mayflowers, said Anne.
• 4:21:06
  Diana says, perhaps they have something better, But there couldn't be anything better
• 4:21:08
  than mayflowers, could there, Marilla, And Diana says, if they don't
• 4:21:12
  know what they are like, they don't miss them. But I think that
• 4:21:15
  is the saddest thing of all. I think it would be tragic, Marilla,
• 4:21:18
  not to know what may flowers are like and not to miss them.
• 4:21:22
  Do you know what I think mayflowers are, Marilla. I think they must
• 4:21:25
  be the souls of the flowers that died last summer, and this is their
• 4:21:27
  heaven. But we had a splendid time to day, Marilla. We had
• 4:21:32
  our lunch down in a big mossy hollow by an old well, such a
• 4:21:36
  romantic spot. Charlie Sloane dared Arty Gillis to jump over it, and Arty
• 4:21:40
  Gillis did because he wouldn't take a dare. Nobody would. In school it
• 4:21:44
  is very fashionable to dare. Mister Phillips gave all the mayflowers he found to
• 4:21:48
  Prissy Andrews, and I heard him to say sweets to the sweet. He
• 4:21:51
  got that out of a book, I know, but it shows he has
• 4:21:53
  some imagination. I was offered some may flowers too, but I rejected them
• 4:21:57
  with scorn. I can't tell you the person's name because I have vowed never
• 4:22:00
  to let it cross my lips. We made wreaths of the mayflowers and put
• 4:22:03
  them on our hats, and when the time came to go home, we
• 4:22:07
  marched in procession down the road two by two with our bouquets and wreaths,
• 4:22:11
  singing my home on the hill. Oh, it was so thrilling, Marilla.
• 4:22:14
  All mister Silas Sloane's folks rushed out to see us, and everybody we
• 4:22:18
  met on the road stopped and stared at us. We made a real sensation.
• 4:22:22
  Not much wonder such silly doings, was Marilla's response. After the may
• 4:22:26
  flowers came, the violets, and violet veil was impurpled with them. Anne
• 4:22:30
  walked through it on her way to school, with reverent steps and worshiping eyes,
• 4:22:33
  as if you trod on holy ground somehow, She told Diana, when
• 4:22:38
  I'm going through here, I don't really care whether gil, whether anybody gets
• 4:22:42
  ahead of me in class or not. But when I'm up in school,
• 4:22:45
  it's all different, and I care as much as ever. There's such a
• 4:22:48
  lot of different ANNs in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such
• 4:22:52
  a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne, it would be
• 4:22:56
  ever so much more comfortable. But then it wouldn't be half so interesting.
• 4:23:00
  One June evening, when the orchards were pink blossomed again, when the frogs
• 4:23:04
  were singing silverly sweet in the marshes about the head of the Lake of Shining
• 4:23:08
  Waters, and the air was full of the savor of clover fields and balsamic
• 4:23:12
  fir woods. Anne was sitting by her gable window. She had been studying
• 4:23:15
  her lessons, but it had grown too dark to see the book, so
• 4:23:18
  she had fallen into wide eyed reverie, looking out past the boughs of the
• 4:23:22
  snow Queen, once more bestarred with its tufts of blossom. In all essential
• 4:23:27
  respects, the little gable chamber was unchanged. The walls were as white,
• 4:23:32
  the pincushion as hard, the chairs as stiffly and yellowly upright as ever.
• 4:23:36
  Yet the whole character of the room was altered. It was full of a
• 4:23:40
  new, vital, pulsing personality that seemed to pervade it, and to be
• 4:23:44
  quite independent of schoolgirl books and dresses and ribbons, and even of the cracked
• 4:23:48
  blue jug full of apple blossoms on the table. It was as if all
• 4:23:52
  the dreams sleeping and waking of its vivid occupant had taken a visible, although
• 4:23:57
  unmaterial form, and had tapestried the bare room with splendid, filmy tissues.
• 4:24:03
  Of rainbow and moonshine. Presently, Marilla came briskly in with some of Anne's
• 4:24:07
  freshly ironed school aprons. She hung them over a chair and sat down with
• 4:24:11
  a short sigh. She had had one of her head aches that afternoon,
• 4:24:15
  and although the pain had gone, she felt weak and tuckered out as she
• 4:24:18
  expressed it. Anne looked at her with eyes limpid with sympathy. I do
• 4:24:22
  truly wish I could have had the headache in your place, Marilla. I
• 4:24:25
  would have endured it joyfully for your sake. I guess you did your pard
• 4:24:29
  in attending to the work and letting me rest, said Marilla. You seem
• 4:24:32
  to have got on fairly well and made fewer mistakes than usual. Of course,
• 4:24:36
  it wasn't exactly necessary to starch Matthew's handkerchiefs, and most people, when
• 4:24:40
  they put a pie in the oven to warm up for dinner, take it
• 4:24:41
  out and eat it when it gets hot, instead of leaving it to be
• 4:24:44
  burned to a crisp bet. That doesn't seem to be your way. Evidently,
• 4:24:48
  headaches always left Marilla somewhat sarcastic. Oh, I'm so sorry, said
• 4:24:52
  Anne penitently. I never thought about that pie from the moment I put it
• 4:24:56
  in the oven till now. Although I felt instinctively that the there was something
• 4:25:00
  missing on the dinner table, I was firmly resolved when you left me in
• 4:25:03
  charge this morning not to imagine anything but keep my thoughts on facts. I
• 4:25:07
  did pretty well until I put the pie in, and then an irresistible temptation
• 4:25:11
  came to me to imagine I was an enchanted princess shut up in a lonely
• 4:25:15
  tower, with a handsome night riding to my rescue on a coal black steed.
• 4:25:18
  So that is how I came to forget the pie. I didn't know
• 4:25:22
  I starched the handkerchiefs. All the time I was ironing, I was trying
• 4:25:25
  to think of a name for a new island. Diana and I have discovered
• 4:25:27
  up the Brook. It's the most ravishing spot Marilla. There are two maple
• 4:25:32
  trees on it, and the brook flows right around it. At last,
• 4:25:36
  it struck me that it would be splendid to call it Victoria Island, because
• 4:25:38
  we found it on the Queen's birthday. Both Diana and I are very loyal,
• 4:25:42
  but I'm sorry about that pie and the handkerchiefs. I wanted to be
• 4:25:45
  extra good to day because it's an anniversary. Do you remember what happened this
• 4:25:49
  day last year? Marilla? No, I can't think of anything special.
• 4:25:53
  Oh, Marilla, it was the day I came to Green Gables. I
• 4:25:56
  shall never forget it. It was the turning point in my life. Of
• 4:26:00
  course, it wouldn't seem so important to you. I've been here for a
• 4:26:03
  year and I've been so happy. Of course, I've had my troubles,
• 4:26:07
  but one can live down troubles. Are you sorry you kept me, Marilla?
• 4:26:11
  No, I can't say I'm sorry, said Marilla, who sometimes wondered
• 4:26:15
  how she could have lived before Anne came to Green Gables. No, not
• 4:26:18
  exactly. Sorry. If you've finished your lessons, Anne, I want you
• 4:26:22
  to run over and ask missus Barry if she'll lend me Diana's apron pattern.
• 4:26:26
  Oh it's it's too dark, cried Anne. Too dark? Why it's only
• 4:26:30
  twilight? And goodness knows you've gone over often enough after dark. I'll go
• 4:26:36
  over early in the morning, said Anne eagerly. I'll get up at sunrise
• 4:26:38
  and go over. Marilla, what has got into your head now, Anne,
• 4:26:42
  Shirley, I want that pattern to cut out your new apron this evening.
• 4:26:45
  Go at once and be smart too. I'll have to go around by
• 4:26:49
  the road, then, said Anne, taking up her hat reluctantly. Go
• 4:26:52
  by the road and waste half an hour. I'd like to catch you.
• 4:26:56
  I can't go through the haunted wood, Marilla, cried Anne desperately. Marilla
• 4:27:02
  stared, the haunted wood. Are you crazy? What under the canopy is
• 4:27:07
  the haunted wood? The spruce wood over the brook, said Anne in a
• 4:27:11
  whisper. Fiddlesticks. There is no such thing as a haunted wood anywhere.
• 4:27:15
  Who has been telling you such stuff? Nobody, confessed Anne. Diana and
• 4:27:18
  I just imagined the wood was haunted. All the places around here are so
• 4:27:23
  so commonplace. We just got this up for our own amusement. We began
• 4:27:29
  it in April. A haunted wood is so very romantic, Marilla. We
• 4:27:33
  chose the spruce grove because it's so gloomy. Oh, we have imagined the
• 4:27:36
  most harrowing things. There's a white lady walks along the brook just about this
• 4:27:41
  time of the night and wrings her hands and utters wailing cries. She appears
• 4:27:45
  when there is to be a death in the family, and the ghost of
• 4:27:48
  a little murdered child haunts the corner up by idlewild. It creeps up behind
• 4:27:52
  you and lays its cold fingers on your hand. So, oh, Marilla,
• 4:27:56
  it gives me a shudder to think of it. And there's a headless
• 4:27:59
  man stalks up and down the path, and skeletons glower at you between the
• 4:28:03
  boughs. Oh, Marilla, I wouldn't go through the haunted wood after dark
• 4:28:07
  now, for anything. I'd be sure that white things would reach out from
• 4:28:10
  behind the trees and grab me. Did ever any one hear the like?
• 4:28:14
  Ejaculated Marilla, who had listened in dumb amazement. Anne, Shirley, do
• 4:28:18
  you mean to tell me you believe all that wicked nonsense of your own imagination?
• 4:28:22
  Not believe exactly? Faltered? Anne? At least, I don't believe
• 4:28:26
  it in daylight. But after dark, Marilla, it's different. That is,
• 4:28:32
  when ghosts walk. There are no such things as ghosts. Anne.
• 4:28:36
  Oh but there are, Marilla, cried Anne eagerly. I know people who
• 4:28:40
  have seen them, and they are respectable people. Charlie Sloane says that his
• 4:28:42
  grandmother saw his grandfather driving home the cows one night after he'd been buried for
• 4:28:48
  a year. You know, Charlie Sloane's grandmother wouldn't tell a story for anything.
• 4:28:52
  She's a very religious woman. And Missus Thomas's father was pursued home one
• 4:28:56
  night by a lamb of fire with its head cut off, hanging by a
• 4:28:57
  strip of skin, said he knew it was the spirit of his brother,
• 4:29:00
  and that it was a warning he would die within nine days. He didn't,
• 4:29:04
  but he died two years after. So you see it was really true.
• 4:29:07
  And Ruby Gillis, says Anne. Shirley interrupted Marilla firmly. I never
• 4:29:11
  want to hear you talking in this fashion again. I've had my doubts about
• 4:29:15
  that imagination of yours right along, and if this is going to be the
• 4:29:18
  outcome of it, I won't countenance any such doings. You'll go right over
• 4:29:22
  to Berry's and you'll go through that spruce grove just for a lesson and a
• 4:29:26
  warning to you, and never let me hear a word out of your head
• 4:29:29
  about haunted woods again. Anne might plead and cry, as she liked.
• 4:29:33
  Anne did, for her terror was very real. Her imagination had run away
• 4:29:37
  with her, and she held the spruce grove in mortal dread after nightfall.
• 4:29:41
  But Marilla was inexorable. She marched the shrinking ghostseer down to the spring and
• 4:29:45
  ordered her to proceed straightway over the bridge and into the dusky retreats of wailing
• 4:29:48
  ladies and headless specters beyond. Oh, Marilla, how can you be so
• 4:29:52
  cruel? Sobbed Anne? What would you feel like if a white thing did
• 4:29:56
  snatch me up and carry me off? I'll risk it, said Marilla,
• 4:30:00
  unfeelingly. You know I always mean what I say. I'll cure you of
• 4:30:04
  imagining ghosts into places. March now. Anne marched that is, she stumbled
• 4:30:11
  over the bridge and went shuddering up the horrible dim path beyond. Anne never
• 4:30:15
  forgot that walk. Bitterly did she repent the license she had given to her
• 4:30:18
  imagination. The goblins of her fancy lurked in every shadow about her, reaching
• 4:30:23
  out their cold, fleshless hands to grasp the terrified small girl who had called
• 4:30:27
  them into being. A white strip of birch bark blowing up from the hollow
• 4:30:32
  over the brown floor of the grove made her heart stand still. The long
• 4:30:36
  drawn wail of two old boughs rubbing against each other brought out the perspiration in
• 4:30:41
  beads on her forehead. The swoop of bats in the darkness over her was
• 4:30:45
  as the wings of unearthly creatures. When she reached mister William Bell's field,
• 4:30:48
  she fled across it as if pursued by an army of white things, and
• 4:30:52
  arrived at the Barry kitchen door so out of breath that she could hardly gasp
• 4:30:56
  out her request for the apron pattern. Diana was away, so that she
• 4:31:00
  had no excuse to linger. The dreadful return journey had to be faced.
• 4:31:03
  Anne went back over it with shut eyes, preferring to take the risk of
• 4:31:07
  dashing her brains out among the boughs to that of seeing a white thing.
• 4:31:11
  When she finally stumbled over the log bridge, she drew one long, shivering
• 4:31:15
  breath of relief. Well so nothing caught you, said Marilla, unsympathetically.
• 4:31:19
  Oh mam, Marilla, chattered Anne. I'll be contented with common place places
• 4:31:26
  after this. End of chapter twenty Chapter twenty one a new departure in flavorings.
• 4:31:34
  Dear me, there is nothing but meetings and partings in this world,
• 4:31:38
  as missus Lynde says, remarked Anne, plaintively, putting her slate and books
• 4:31:42
  down on the kitchen table on the last day of June and wiping her red
• 4:31:45
  eyes with a very damp handkerchief. Wasn't it fortunate, Marilla that I took
• 4:31:49
  an extra handkerchief to school to day. I had a presentiment that it would
• 4:31:52
  be needed. I never thought you were so fond of mister Phillips that you'd
• 4:31:56
  require two handkerchiefs to dry your tears just because he was going away, said
• 4:32:00
  Marilla. I don't think I was crying because I was really so very fond
• 4:32:04
  of him, reflected Anne. I just cried because all the others did.
• 4:32:08
  It was Ruby Gillis started it. Ruby Gillis has always declared she hated mister
• 4:32:12
  Phillips, but just as soon as he got up to make his farewell speech,
• 4:32:15
  she burst into tears. Then all the girls began to cry, one
• 4:32:18
  after the other. I tried to hold out, Marilla. I tried to
• 4:32:22
  remember the time mister Phillips made me sit with guilt with a boy, and
• 4:32:26
  the time he spelled my name without an E on the blackboard, and how
• 4:32:30
  he said I was the worst duns he ever saw at geometry and laughed at
• 4:32:33
  my spelling, and all the times he had been so horrid and sarcastic,
• 4:32:37
  but somehow I couldn't, Marilla, and I just had to cry too.
• 4:32:41
  Jane Andrews has been talking for a month about how glad she'd be when mister
• 4:32:44
  Phillips went away, and she declared she'd never shed a tear while she was
• 4:32:48
  worse than any of us and had to borrow a handkerchief from her brother.
• 4:32:51
  Of course, the boys didn't cry because she hadn't brought one of her own,
• 4:32:53
  not expecting to need it. Oh, Marilla, it was heart rending.
• 4:32:57
  Mister Phillips made such a beautiful farewell speech, beginning the time has come
• 4:33:02
  for us to part. It was very affecting, and he had tears in
• 4:33:06
  his eyes too, Marilla. Oh, I felt dreadfully sorry and remorseful for
• 4:33:08
  all the times I'd talked in school and drawn pictures of him on my slate
• 4:33:11
  and made fun of him and Prissy. I can't tell you I wish I'd
• 4:33:15
  been a model pupil like Minnie Andrews. She hadn't anything on her conscience.
• 4:33:19
  The girls cried all the way home from school. Carrie Sloane kept saying every
• 4:33:23
  few minutes, the time has come for us to part, and that would
• 4:33:26
  start us off again whenever we were in any danger of cheering up. I
• 4:33:30
  do feel dreadfully sad, Marilla. But one can't feel quite in the depths
• 4:33:33
  of despair with two months vacation before them, can they, Marilla. And
• 4:33:37
  besides, we met the new minister and his wife coming from the station.
• 4:33:41
  For all I was feeling so bad about mister Phillips going away, I couldn't
• 4:33:45
  help taking a little interest in a new minister, could I. His wife
• 4:33:48
  is very pretty, not exactly regally lovely. Of course, it wouldn't do
• 4:33:52
  I suppose for a minister to have a regally lovely wife, because it might
• 4:33:55
  set a bad example. Missus Lynde says the minister's wife over at Newbridge.
• 4:33:59
  That's a very bad exams ample, because she dresses so fashionably. Our new
• 4:34:02
  minister's wife was dressed in blue muslin, with lovely puffed sleeves and a hat
• 4:34:06
  trimmed with roses. Jane Andrews said she thought puffed sleeves were too worldly for
• 4:34:10
  a minister's wife. But I didn't make any such uncharitable remark, Marilla,
• 4:34:14
  because I know what it is too long for puffed sleeves. Besides, She's
• 4:34:18
  only been a minister's wife for a little while, so one should make allowances,
• 4:34:21
  shouldn't they They are going to board with missus Lynde until the manse is
• 4:34:23
  ready. If Marilla in going down to Missus Lynde's, that evening was actuated
• 4:34:27
  by any motive save her avowed one of returning the quilting frame she had borrowed
• 4:34:32
  the preceding winter. It was an amiable weakness shared by most of the Avonlea
• 4:34:36
  people. Many a thing Missus Lynde had lent, sometimes never expecting to see
• 4:34:41
  it again, came home that night in charge of the borrow. Was thereof
• 4:34:44
  a new minister, and moreover, a minister with a wife was a lawful
• 4:34:48
  object of curiosity in a quiet, little country settlement where sensations were few and
• 4:34:52
  far between. Old mister Bentley, the minister whom Anne had found lacking in
• 4:34:56
  imagination, had been pastor of Avonlea for eighteen year. He was a widower
• 4:35:00
  when he came, and the widower he remained, despite the fact that gossip
• 4:35:04
  regularly married him to this, that or the other one every year of his
• 4:35:07
  sojourn. In the preceding February, he had resigned his charge and departed amid
• 4:35:11
  the regrets of his people, most of whom had the affection born of long
• 4:35:15
  intercourse for their good old minister, in spite of his shortcomings as an orator.
• 4:35:18
  Since then, the Avonlea Church had enjoyed a variety of religious dissipation in
• 4:35:23
  listening to the many and various candidates and supplies who came Sunday after Sunday to
• 4:35:27
  preach on trial. These stood or fell by the judgment of the fathers and
• 4:35:32
  mothers in Israel. But a certain small red haired girl who sat meekly in
• 4:35:34
  the corner of the old Cuthbert Pew also had her opinions about them, and
• 4:35:38
  discussed the same and full with Matthew Marilla, always declining from principle to criticize
• 4:35:44
  ministers in any shape or form. I don't think mister Smith would have done.
• 4:35:47
  Matthew was Anne's final summing up. Missus Lynde says his delivery was so
• 4:35:52
  poor, But I think his worst fault was just like mister Bentley's. He
• 4:35:56
  had no imagination and mister Terry had too much. He let it run away
• 4:36:00
  away with him, just as I did mine. In the matter of the
• 4:36:00
  haunted Wood. Besides, missus Lynde says his theology wasn't sound. Mister Gresham
• 4:36:07
  was a very good man and a very religious man, but he told too
• 4:36:10
  many funny stories and made the people laugh in church. He was undignified,
• 4:36:14
  and you must have some dignity about a minister, mustn't you, Matthew.
• 4:36:17
  I thought mister Marshall was decidedly attractive. But missus Lynde says he isn't married
• 4:36:22
  or even engaged, because she made special inquiries about him, and she says
• 4:36:26
  it would never do to have a young, unmarried minister in Avonlea, because
• 4:36:29
  he might marry in the congregation and that would make trouble. Missus Lynde is
• 4:36:33
  a very far seeing woman, isn't she, Matthew. I'm very glad they've
• 4:36:37
  called mister Allan. I liked him because his sermon was interesting, and he
• 4:36:40
  prayed as if he meant it and not just as if he did it,
• 4:36:41
  because he was in the habit of it. Missus Lynde says he isn't perfect,
• 4:36:45
  but she says she supposes we couldn't expect a perfect minister for seven hundred
• 4:36:49
  and fifty dollars a year, and anyhow, his theology is sound because she
• 4:36:52
  questioned him thoroughly on all the points of doctrine. And she knows his wife's
• 4:36:56
  people, and they are most respectable, and the women are all good housekeepers.
• 4:37:00
  Missus Lynde says that sound doctrine in the man and good housekeeping in the
• 4:37:03
  woman make an ideal combination for a minister's family. The new minister and his
• 4:37:07
  wife were a young, pleasant faced couple, still on their honeymoon, and
• 4:37:11
  full of all good and beautiful enthusiasms for their chosen life work. Avonlea opened
• 4:37:15
  its heart to them from the start, old and young liked the frank,
• 4:37:18
  cheerful young man with his eye ideals, and the bright, gentle little lady
• 4:37:22
  who assumed the mistress ship of the man's With Missus allan Anne felt promptly and
• 4:37:27
  wholeheartedly in love. She had discovered another kindred spirit. Missus Allen is perfectly
• 4:37:33
  lovely, she announced one Sunday afternoon. She has taken our class, and
• 4:37:37
  she's a splendid teacher. She said right away. She didn't think it was
• 4:37:40
  fair for the teacher to ask all the questions. And you know, Marilla,
• 4:37:42
  that is exactly what I've always thought. She said we could ask her
• 4:37:45
  any question we liked, and I asked ever so many. I'm good at
• 4:37:48
  asking questions, Marilla. I believe you, was Marilla's emphatic comment. Nobody
• 4:37:53
  else asked Anny except Ruby Gillis, and she asked if there was to be
• 4:37:56
  a Sunday school picnic this summer. I didn't think that was very proper question
• 4:38:00
  to ask, because it hadn't any connection with the lesson. The lesson was
• 4:38:03
  about Daniel and lyons Den. But Missus Allan just smiled and said she thought
• 4:38:07
  there would be. Missus Allan has a lovely smile. She has such exquisite
• 4:38:12
  dimples in her cheeks. I wish I had dimples in my cheeks, Marilla.
• 4:38:15
  I'm not half so skinny as I was when I came here, but
• 4:38:18
  I have no dimples. Yet if I had, perhaps I could influence people
• 4:38:22
  for good. Missus Allan said, we ought always to try to influence other
• 4:38:26
  people for good. She talked so nice about everything. I never knew before
• 4:38:30
  that religion was such a cheerful thing. I always thought it was kind of
• 4:38:33
  melancholy, but Missus Allan's isn't. And I'd like to be a Christian.
• 4:38:36
  If I could be one like her, I wouldn't want to be one like
• 4:38:38
  mister Superintendent Bell. It's very naughty of you to speak so about mister Bell,
• 4:38:44
  said Marilla severely. Mister Bell is a real good man. Oh of
• 4:38:47
  course he's good, agreed Anne. But he doesn't seem to get any comfort
• 4:38:51
  out of it. If I could be good, i'd dance and sing all
• 4:38:53
  day because I was glad of it. I suppose missus Allan is too old
• 4:38:57
  to dance and sing, and of course it wouldn't be dignified in a minister's
• 4:39:00
  wife. But I can just feel she's glad she's a Christian and that she'd
• 4:39:04
  be one even if she could get to Heaven without it. I suppose we
• 4:39:07
  must have mister and Missus Allan up to Tea some day soon, said Marilla
• 4:39:11
  reflectively. They've been most everywhere but here. Let me see. Next Wednesday
• 4:39:17
  would be a good time to have them. But don't say a word to
• 4:39:19
  Matthew about it, for if he knew they were coming, he'd find some
• 4:39:22
  excuse to be away that day. He'd got so used to mister Bentley he
• 4:39:25
  didn't mind him. But he's going to find it hard to get acquainted with
• 4:39:27
  a new minister, and a new minister's wife will frighten him to death.
• 4:39:32
  I'll be as secret as the dead, assured Anne. But oh, Marilla,
• 4:39:36
  will you let me make a cake for the occasion. I'd love to
• 4:39:37
  do something for missus Allan. And you know I can make a pretty good
• 4:39:41
  cake. By this time, you can make a layer cake, promised Marilla.
• 4:39:45
  Monday and Tuesday, great preparations went on at Green Gables. Having the
• 4:39:48
  minister and his wife to tea was as serious and important undertaking, and Marilla
• 4:39:52
  was determined not to be eclipsed by any of the Avonlea housekeepers. Anne was
• 4:39:56
  wild with excitement and delight. She talked to all over with Diana Tuesday night
• 4:40:00
  in the twilight as they sat on the big red stones by the dryat's bubble
• 4:40:04
  and made rainbows in the water with little twigs dipped in fur balsam. Everything
• 4:40:08
  is ready, Diana, except my cake, which I'm to make in the
• 4:40:11
  morning, and the baking powder biscuits, which Marilla will make just before tea
• 4:40:15
  time. I assure you, Diana, that Marilla and I have had a
• 4:40:18
  busy two days of it. It's such a responsibility, having a minister's family
• 4:40:22
  to tea. I never went through such an experience before. You should just
• 4:40:26
  see our pantry. It's a sight to behold. We're going to have jellied
• 4:40:30
  chicken and cold tongue. We're to have two kinds of jelly, red and
• 4:40:33
  yellow, and whipped cream, and lemon pie and cherry pie, and three
• 4:40:37
  kinds of cookies, and fruit cake and Marilla's famous yellow plum preserves that she
• 4:40:41
  keeps especially for ministers, and pound cake and layer cake, and biscuits as
• 4:40:44
  aforesaid, and new bread and old both in case the minister is dyspeptic and
• 4:40:48
  can't eat new. Missus Lynde says ministers are dyspeptic, but I don't think
• 4:40:52
  mister Allen has been a minister long enough for it to have had a bad
• 4:40:55
  effect on him. I just grow cold when I think of my layer cake.
• 4:40:57
  Oh, Diana, what if it shouldn't be good? I dreamed last
• 4:41:02
  night that I was chased all around by a fearful goblin with a big layer
• 4:41:04
  cake for a head. It'll be good, all right, assured Diana,
• 4:41:07
  who was a very comfortable sort of friend. I'm sure that piece of the
• 4:41:11
  one you made that we had for luncheon idle, while two weeks ago was
• 4:41:14
  perfectly elegant. Yes, but cakes have such a terrible habit of turning out
• 4:41:18
  bad just when you especially want them to be good, sighed Anne, setting
• 4:41:22
  a particularly well balsam twiger float. However, I suppose I shall just have
• 4:41:26
  to trust to providence and be careful to put in the flower. Oh look,
• 4:41:30
  Diana, what a lovely rainbow. Do you suppose the dryad will come
• 4:41:33
  out after we go away and take it for a scarf? You know,
• 4:41:37
  there is no such thing as a dryad, said Diana. Diana's mother had
• 4:41:41
  found out about the Haunted Wood and had been decidedly angry over it. As
• 4:41:45
  a result, Diana had abstained from any further imitative flights of imagination and did
• 4:41:48
  not think it prudent to cultivate a spirit of belief, even in harmless dryads.
• 4:41:53
  But it's so easy to imagine there is, said Anne. Every night
• 4:41:56
  before I go to bed, I look out of my window, and one
• 4:42:00
  if the dryad is really sitting here, combing her locks with the spring for
• 4:42:03
  a mirror. Sometimes I look for her footprints in the dew in the morning.
• 4:42:07
  Oh, Diana, don't give up your faith in the dryad. Wednesday
• 4:42:11
  morning came Anne got up at sunrise because she was too excited to sleep.
• 4:42:15
  She had got a severe cold in the head by reason of her dabbling in
• 4:42:18
  the spring on the preceding evening, but nothing short of absolute pneumonia could have
• 4:42:22
  quenched her interest in culinary matters. That morning, after breakfast, she proceeded
• 4:42:26
  to make her cake. When she finally shut the oven door upon it,
• 4:42:29
  she drew a long breath. I'm sure I haven't forgotten anything this time,
• 4:42:33
  Marilla, But do you think it will rise? Just suppose perhaps the baking
• 4:42:37
  powder isn't good. I used it out of the new can and missus Lynde
• 4:42:41
  says, you can never be sure of getting good baking powder nowadays, when
• 4:42:44
  everything is so adulterated. Missus Lynde says the government ought to take the matter
• 4:42:48
  up, but she says, we'll never see the day when a Tory government
• 4:42:49
  will do it. Marilla, what if that cake doesn't rise, We'll have
• 4:42:55
  plenty without it, was Marilla's unimpassioned way of looking at the subject. The
• 4:42:59
  cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and
• 4:43:02
  feathery as golden foam. Anne, flushed with delight, clapped it together with
• 4:43:06
  layers of ruby jelly, and in imagination saw Missus Allen eating it and possibly
• 4:43:11
  asking for another piece. You'll be using the best tea set, of course,
• 4:43:14
  Marilla, she said, Can I fix the table with ferns and wild
• 4:43:18
  roses? I think that's all nonsense, sniffed Marilla. In my opinion,
• 4:43:22
  it's the eatables that matter, not flummery decorations. Missus Barry had her table
• 4:43:26
  decorated, said Anne, who was not entirely guiltless of the wisdom of the
• 4:43:30
  serpent, and the minister paid her an elegant compliment. He said it was
• 4:43:33
  a feast for the eye as well as the palette. Well, do as
• 4:43:37
  you like, said Marilla, who was quite determined not to be surpassed by
• 4:43:41
  Missus Barry or anybody else. Only mind you leave enough room for the dishes
• 4:43:45
  and the food. Anne laid herself out to decorate in a manner and after
• 4:43:48
  a fashion that should leave Missus Barry's nowhere. Having abundance of roses and ferns
• 4:43:53
  and a very artistic taste of her own, she made that tea table such
• 4:43:56
  a thing of beauty that when the minister and his wife sat down to it,
• 4:44:00
  they exclaimed in chorus over its loveliness. It's Anne's doings, said Marilla
• 4:44:04
  grimly, just and Anne felt that Missus Allan's approving smile was almost too much
• 4:44:08
  happiness for this world. Matthew was there, having been inveigled into the party
• 4:44:14
  only goodness, and Anne knew how he had been in such a state of
• 4:44:17
  shyness and nervousness that Marilla had given him up in despair. But Anne took
• 4:44:21
  him in hand so successfully that he now sat at the table in his best
• 4:44:23
  clothes and white collar, and talked to the minister not uninterestingly. He never
• 4:44:29
  said a word to Missus Allan, but that perhaps was not to be expected.
• 4:44:33
  All went Mary as a marriage bell until Anne's layer cake was passed.
• 4:44:36
  Missus Allan, having already been helped to a bewildering variety, declined it.
• 4:44:41
  But Marilla, seeing the disappointment on Anne's face, said smilingly, oh,
• 4:44:44
  you must take a piece of this, Missus Allan. Anne made it on
• 4:44:47
  purpose for you. In that case, I must sample it, laughed Missus
• 4:44:51
  Allan, helping herself to a plump triangle, as did also the minister in
• 4:44:55
  Marilla, missus Allan, took a mouthful of hers, and a most peculiar
• 4:44:57
  expression crossed her face. Not a word did she say, however, but
• 4:45:02
  steadily ate away at it. Marilla saw the expression and hastened to taste the
• 4:45:06
  cake. Anne, Shirley, She exclaimed, what on earth did you put
• 4:45:08
  into that cake? Nothing but what the recipe? Said Marilla, cried Anne,
• 4:45:12
  with a look of anguish. Oh, isn't it all right? All
• 4:45:15
  right, it's simply horrible, mister Allan. Don't try to eat it,
• 4:45:19
  Anne, taste it yourself. What flavoring did you use? Vanilla? Said
• 4:45:23
  Anne, her face scarlet with mortification, after tasting the cake, only vanilla,
• 4:45:29
  Oh, Marilla, it must have been the baking powder. I had
• 4:45:32
  my suspicions of that bake baking powder. Fiddlesticks, go and bring me the
• 4:45:36
  bottle of vanilla you used. Anne fled to the pantry and returned with a
• 4:45:40
  small bottle, partially filled with a brown liquid and labeled yellowly best vanilla.
• 4:45:45
  Marilla took it, uncorked it, and smelled it. Mercy on us,
• 4:45:48
  Anne, you flavored that cake with anodyne liniment. I broke the liniment bottle
• 4:45:52
  last week and poured what was left into an old, empty vanilla bottle.
• 4:45:56
  I suppose it's partly my fault. I should have warned you, But for
• 4:45:59
  pity's sake, why couldn't you have smelled it? Anne dissolved into tears under
• 4:46:03
  this double disgrace. I couldn't. I had such a cold, And with
• 4:46:08
  this she fairly fled to the gable chamber, where she cast herself on the
• 4:46:11
  bed and wept as one who refuses to be comforted. Presently, a light
• 4:46:15
  step sounded on the stairs, and somebody entered the room. Oh Marilla,
• 4:46:19
  sobbed Anne, without looking up. I'm disgraced forever. I shall never be
• 4:46:25
  able to live this down. It will get out. Things always do get
• 4:46:29
  out. In Avonlea. Diana will ask me how my cake turned out,
• 4:46:32
  and I shall have to tell her the truth. I shall always be pointed
• 4:46:34
  at as the girl who flavored a cake with Anna Dyne liniment gilt. The
• 4:46:40
  boys in school will never get over laughing at it. Oh Marilla, if
• 4:46:44
  you have a spark of Christian pity, don't tell me that I must go
• 4:46:47
  down and wash the dishes. After this, I'll wash them when the minister
• 4:46:49
  and his wife are gone. But I cannot ever look Missus Allan in the
• 4:46:53
  face again. Perhaps she'll think I'd tried to poison her. Missus Lynde says
• 4:46:57
  she knows an orphan girl who tried to put and her benefactor. But the
• 4:47:00
  liniment isn't poisonous. It's meant to be taken internally, although not in cakes.
• 4:47:06
  Won't you tell Missus Allan so, Marilla, suppose you jump up and
• 4:47:10
  tell her so yourself, said a merry voice. Anne flew up to find
• 4:47:14
  Missus Allan standing by her bed, surveying her with laughing eyes. My dear
• 4:47:18
  little girl, you mustn't cry like this, she said, genuinely disturbed by
• 4:47:22
  Anne's tragic face. Why it's all just a funny mistake that anybody might make.
• 4:47:26
  Oh no, it takes me to make such a mistake, said Anne
• 4:47:30
  forlornly. And I wanted to have that cake so nice for you, Missus
• 4:47:33
  Allan. Yes, I know, dear, and I assure you I appreciate
• 4:47:37
  your kindness and thoughtfulness just as much as if it had turned out all right.
• 4:47:41
  Now, you mustn't cry any more, but come down with me and
• 4:47:44
  show me your flower garden, Miss Cuthbert tells me you have a little plot
• 4:47:48
  all your own. I want to see it, for I'm very much interested
• 4:47:51
  in flowers. Anne permitted herself to be led down and comforted, reflecting that
• 4:47:55
  it was really providential that missus Allan was a kindred spirit. Nothing more was
• 4:47:59
  said of the liniment cake, and when the guests went away, Anne found
• 4:48:03
  that she had enjoyed the evening more than could have been expected considering that terrible
• 4:48:06
  incident. Nevertheless, she sighed deeply. Marilla, isn't it nice to think
• 4:48:11
  that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it? Yet I warrant
• 4:48:15
  you'll make plenty in it, said Marilla. I never saw your beat for
• 4:48:18
  making mistakes. Anne. Yes, and well I know it, admitted Anne
• 4:48:22
  mournfully. But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Marilla?
• 4:48:26
  I never make the same mistake twice. I don't know as that's much benefit
• 4:48:30
  when you're always making new ones. Oh, don't you see, Marilla?
• 4:48:34
  There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when
• 4:48:37
  I get to the end of them, that I'll be through with them.
• 4:48:40
  That's a very comforting thought. Well, you'd better go and give that cake
• 4:48:45
  to the pigs, said Marilla. It isn't fit for any human tweet,
• 4:48:48
  not even Jerry Butt. End of chapter twenty one. Chapter twenty two,
• 4:48:55
  Anne is invited out to tea. And what are your eyes popping out of
• 4:48:59
  your head about now? Asked Marilla, when Anne had just come in from
• 4:49:02
  a run to the post office. Have you discovered another kindred spirit? Excitement
• 4:49:07
  hung around Anne like a garment shone in her eyes, kindled in every feature.
• 4:49:11
  She had come dancing up the lane like a wind blown sprite through the
• 4:49:15
  mellow sunshine and lazy shadows of the August evening. No, Marilla, but
• 4:49:18
  oh what do you think? I am invited to tea at the Manse tomorrow
• 4:49:22
  afternoon. Missus Allan left the letter for me at the post office. Just
• 4:49:26
  look at it, Marilla, Miss Anne Shirley green Gables. That is the
• 4:49:30
  first time I was ever called miss Such a thrill as it gave me,
• 4:49:33
  I shall cherish it forever among my choicest treasures. Missus Allan told me she
• 4:49:37
  meant to have all the members of her Sunday school class to tea. In
• 4:49:40
  turn, said Marilla, regarding the wonderful event, very coolly. You needn't
• 4:49:44
  get in such a fever over it. Do learn to take things calmly.
• 4:49:47
  Child. For Anne to take things calmly would have been to change her nature,
• 4:49:52
  all spirit and fire and dew. As she was, the pleasures and
• 4:49:55
  pains of life came to her with trebled intensity. Marilla felt this and was
• 4:49:59
  vaguely try bubled over it, realizing that the ups and downs of existence would
• 4:50:03
  probably bear hardly on this impulsive soul, and not sufficiently understanding that the equally
• 4:50:07
  great capacity for delight might more than compensate. Therefore, Marilla conceived it to
• 4:50:12
  be her duty to drill Anne into a tranquil, uniformity of disposition, as
• 4:50:15
  impossible and alien to her as to a dancing sunbeam in one of the brooks
• 4:50:19
  shallows. She did not make much headway, as she sorrowfully admitted to herself,
• 4:50:23
  the downfall of some dear hope or plan plunged Anne into deeps of affliction.
• 4:50:29
  The fulfillment thereof exalted her into dizzy realms of delight. Marilla had almost
• 4:50:33
  begun to despair of ever fashioning this waif of the world into her model little
• 4:50:37
  girl of demure manners and prim deportment. Neither would she have believed that she
• 4:50:41
  really liked Anne much better as she was. Anne went to bed that night
• 4:50:45
  speechless with misery because Matthew had said the wind was round northeast and he feared
• 4:50:48
  it would be a rainy day tomorrow. The rustle of the poplar leaves about
• 4:50:52
  the house worried her. It sounded so like pattering rain drops, and the
• 4:50:56
  full, far away roar of the gulf, to which she listened delightedly at
• 4:51:00
  other times loving its strange, sonorous, haunting rhythm, now seemed like a
• 4:51:03
  prophecy of storm and disaster to a small maiden who particularly wanted a fine day.
• 4:51:08
  Anne thought that the morning would never come. But all things have an
• 4:51:12
  end, even nights before the day on which you were invited to take tea
• 4:51:15
  at the man's. The morning, in spite of Matthew's predictions, was fine,
• 4:51:19
  and Anne's spirits soared to their highest. Oh, Marilla, there is
• 4:51:23
  something in me today that makes me just love everybody I see, she exclaimed,
• 4:51:26
  as she washed the breakfast dishes. You don't know how could I feel?
• 4:51:30
  Wouldn't it be nice if it could last? I believe I could be
• 4:51:33
  a model child, if I were just invited out to tea every day,
• 4:51:37
  but oh, Marilla, it's a solemn occasion too. I feel so anxious.
• 4:51:41
  What if I shouldn't behave properly. You know, I never had tea
• 4:51:44
  at a manse before, and I'm not sure that I know all the rules
• 4:51:47
  of etiquette, although I've been studying the rules given in the etiquette department of
• 4:51:49
  the Family Herald ever since I came here. I'm so afraid I'll do something
• 4:51:53
  silly or forget to do something I should do. Would it be good manage
• 4:51:56
  to take a second helping of anything if you wanted to very much? The
• 4:52:00
  trouble with you, Anne is that you're thinking too much about yourself. You
• 4:52:03
  should just think of missus Allen and what would be nicest and most agreeable to
• 4:52:07
  her, said Marilla, hitting for once in her life on a very sound
• 4:52:11
  and pithy piece of advice. Anne instantly realized this. You're right, Marilla,
• 4:52:15
  I'll try not to think about myself at all. Anne evidently got through
• 4:52:19
  her visit without any serious breach of etiquette, for she came home through the
• 4:52:23
  twilight under a great high sprung sky, gloried over with trails of saffron and
• 4:52:27
  rosy cloud in a beatified state of mind, and told Marilla all about it,
• 4:52:32
  happily sitting on the big red sandstone slab at the kitchen door, with
• 4:52:36
  her tired, curly head in Marilla's gingham lap. A cool wind was blowing
• 4:52:41
  down over the long harvest fields from the rims of furry western hills and whistling
• 4:52:45
  through the poplars. One clear star hung over the orchard, and the fireflies
• 4:52:49
  were flitting over in lover's lane, in and out among the ferns and rustling
• 4:52:52
  boughs. Anne watched them as she talked, and somehow felt that wind and
• 4:52:56
  stars and fireflies were all tangled up together into something unutterably sweet and enchanting.
• 4:53:03
  Oh, Marilla, I've had a most fascinating time. I feel that I
• 4:53:07
  shall not have lived in vain, and I shall always feel like that,
• 4:53:10
  even if I should never be invited to tea at a manse again. When
• 4:53:14
  I got there, missus Allen met me at the door. She was dressed
• 4:53:17
  in the sweetest dress of pale pink organdy, with dozens of frills and elbow
• 4:53:21
  sleeves, and she looked just like a seraph. I really think I'd like
• 4:53:23
  to be a minister's wife when I grow up, Marilla. A minister mightn't
• 4:53:27
  mind my red hair, because he wouldn't be thinking of such worldly things.
• 4:53:30
  But then, of course one would have to be naturally good, and I'll
• 4:53:33
  never be that, so I suppose there's no use thinking about it. Some
• 4:53:37
  people are naturally good, you know, and others are not. I'm one
• 4:53:41
  of the others, Missus Lynde says, I'm full of original sin. No
• 4:53:45
  matter how hard I try to be good, I can never make such a
• 4:53:48
  success of it as those who are naturally good. It's a good deal like
• 4:53:51
  geometry, I expect. But don't you think the trying so hard ought to
• 4:53:55
  account for something. Missus Allan is one of the naturally good people her passionately.
• 4:54:00
  You know, there are some people like Matthew and Missus Allan that you
• 4:54:03
  can love right off without any trouble, and there are others like Missus Lynde,
• 4:54:07
  that you have to try very hard to love. You know, you
• 4:54:10
  ought to love them because they know so much and are such active workers in
• 4:54:14
  the church. But you have to keep reminding yourself of it all the time,
• 4:54:17
  or else you forget. There was another little girl at the Man's to
• 4:54:19
  tea from the White Sands Sunday School. Her name was Loretta Bradley, and
• 4:54:22
  she was a very nice little girl. Not exactly a kindred spirit, you
• 4:54:26
  know, but still very nice. We had an elegant tea, and I
• 4:54:30
  think I kept all the rules of etiquette pretty well. After tea, Missus
• 4:54:33
  Allen played and sang, and she got Loretta and me to sing too.
• 4:54:37
  Missus Allan says I have a good voice, and she says I must sing
• 4:54:40
  in the Sunday School choir. After this, you can't think how I was
• 4:54:42
  thrilled at the mere thought. I've so longed to sing in the Sunday School
• 4:54:45
  choir as Diana does, but I feared it was an honor I could never
• 4:54:48
  aspire to. Loretta had to go home early because there is a big concert
• 4:54:52
  in the White Sands Hotel tonight and her sister is to recite at it.
• 4:54:56
  Loretta says that the Americans at the hotel give a concert every fortnight and aid
• 4:55:00
  of the Charlottetown Hospital, and they ask lots of the White Sands people to
• 4:55:03
  recite. Loretta said she expected to be asked herself some day. I just
• 4:55:07
  gazed at her in awe. After she had gone, Missus Allan and I
• 4:55:10
  had a heart to heart talk. I told her everything about Missus Thomas and
• 4:55:14
  the twins and Katy, Maurice and Violetta and coming to Green Gables and my
• 4:55:18
  troubles over geometry, and would you believe it, Marilla, Missus Allan told
• 4:55:21
  me she was a dunce at geometry too. You don't know how that encouraged
• 4:55:25
  me. Missus Lynde came to the manse just before I left, and what
• 4:55:27
  do you think, Marilla. The trustees have hired a new teacher and it's
• 4:55:32
  a lady. Her name is miss Muriel Stacy. Isn't that a romantic name?
• 4:55:36
  Missus Lynde says they've never had a female teacher in Avonlea before, and
• 4:55:40
  she thinks it is a dangerous innovation. But I think it will be splendid
• 4:55:42
  to have a lady teacher. And I really don't see how I'm going to
• 4:55:45
  live through the two weeks before school begins. I am so impatient to see
• 4:55:48
  her. End of chapter twenty two. Chapter twenty three, Anne comes to
• 4:55:55
  grief in an affair of honor. Anne had to live through more than two
• 4:55:59
  weeks, as it happened almost a month having elapsed since the liniment cake episode,
• 4:56:03
  it was high time for her to get into fresh trouble of some sort.
• 4:56:06
  Little mistakes such as absent mindedly emptying a pan of skim milk into a
• 4:56:10
  basket of yarn balls in the pantry instead of into the pig's bucket, and
• 4:56:12
  walking clean over the edge of the log bridge into the brook while wrapped in
• 4:56:17
  imaginative reverie, not really being worth counting. A week after the tea at
• 4:56:21
  the Manse, Diana Barry gave a party small and select. Anne assured Marilla,
• 4:56:25
  just the girls in our class. They had a very good time,
• 4:56:27
  and nothing untoward happened until after tea, when they found themselves in the barry
• 4:56:32
  garden, a little tired of all their gains and ripe for any enticing form
• 4:56:36
  of mischief which might present itself. This presently took the form of daring.
• 4:56:41
  Daring was the fashionable amusement among the Avonleas small fry just then. It had
• 4:56:45
  begun among the boys, but soon spread to the girls and all the silly
• 4:56:48
  things that were done in Avonlea that summer. Because the doers thereof were dared
• 4:56:52
  to do, them would fill a book by themselves. First of all,
• 4:56:56
  Carrie Sloane dared Ruby Gillis to climb to a certain point in the huge old
• 4:56:59
  willow tree before the front door, which Ruby Gillis, albeit in mortal dread
• 4:57:03
  of the fat green caterbillas with which said tree was infested, and with the
• 4:57:07
  fear of her mother before her eyes, if she should tear her new muslin
• 4:57:10
  dress, nimbly did, to the discomfiture of the aforesaid Carrie Sloane. Then
• 4:57:15
  Josie Pye dared Jane Andrews to hop on her left leg around the garden without
• 4:57:18
  stopping once or putting her right foot to the ground, which Jane Andrews gamely
• 4:57:22
  tried to do, but gave out at the third corner and had to confess
• 4:57:26
  herself defeated. Josie's triumph being rather more pronounced than good taste permitted, Anne
• 4:57:30
  surely dared her to walk along the top of the board fence which bounded the
• 4:57:33
  garden to the east. Now, to walk board fences requires more skill and
• 4:57:37
  steadiness of head and heel than one might suppose. Was never tried it,
• 4:57:41
  But Josie Pye, if deficient in some qualities that make for popularity, had
• 4:57:45
  at least a natural and inborn gift duly cultivated for walking board fences. Josie
• 4:57:51
  walked the berry fence with an airy unconcern, which seemed to imply that a
• 4:57:55
  little thing like that wasn't worth a dare. Reluctant admiration greeted her exploit,
• 4:58:00
  for most of the other girls could appreciate it, having suffered many things themselves
• 4:58:03
  in their efforts to walk fences. Josie descended from her perch, flushed with
• 4:58:07
  victory, and darted a defiant glance at Anne. Anne tossed her red braids.
• 4:58:12
  I don't think it's such a very wonderful thing to walk a little low
• 4:58:15
  board fence, she said. I knew a girl in Marysville who could walk
• 4:58:18
  the ridgepole of a roof. I don't believe it, said Josie flatly.
• 4:58:23
  I don't believe anybody could walk a ridgepole. You couldn't anyhow, couldn't,
• 4:58:27
  I cried Anne rashly. Then I dare you to do it, said Josie
• 4:58:32
  defiantly. I dare you to climb up there and walk the ridgepole of mister
• 4:58:36
  Barry's kitchen roof. Anne turned pale, but there was clearly only one thing
• 4:58:41
  to be done. She walked toward the house, where a ladder was leaning
• 4:58:44
  against the kitchen roof. All the fifth class girls said oh, partly and
• 4:58:48
  excitement, partly in dismay, don't you do it? Anne entreated, Diana,
• 4:58:52
  you'll fall off and be killed. Never mind, Josie pye. It
• 4:58:56
  isn't fair to dare anybody to do anything so dangerous. I must do it.
• 4:59:00
  My honor is at stake, said Anne, solemnly. I shall walk
• 4:59:03
  that ridgepole, Diana, or perish in the attempt. If I am killed,
• 4:59:07
  you are to have my pearl bead ring. Anne climbed the ladder amid
• 4:59:11
  breathless silence, gained the ridgepole, balanced herself up brightly on that precarious footing,
• 4:59:18
  and started to walk along it, dizzily, conscious that she was uncomfortably
• 4:59:21
  high up in the world, and that walking ridgepoles was not a thing in
• 4:59:23
  which your imagination helped you out much. Nevertheless, she managed to take several
• 4:59:27
  steps before the catastrophe came. Then she swayed, lost her balance, stumbled,
• 4:59:33
  staggered, and fell, sliding down over the sun baked roof and crashing
• 4:59:37
  off it through the tangle of Virginia creeper beneath, all before the dismayed circle
• 4:59:41
  below could give a simultaneous terrified shriek. If Ann had tumbled off the roof
• 4:59:45
  on the side up which she had ascended, Diana would probably have fallen air
• 4:59:49
  to the pearl bead ring then and there. Fortunately she fell on the other
• 4:59:53
  side, where the roof extended down over the porch, so nearly to the
• 4:59:56
  ground that a fall therefrom was a much less serious thing. Nevertheless, when
• 5:00:00
  Diana and the other girls had rushed frantically around the house, except Ruby Gillis,
• 5:00:04
  who remained as if rooted to the ground and went into hysterics, they
• 5:00:07
  found Anne lying all white and limp among the wreck and ruin of the Virginia
• 5:00:11
  creeper. Anne, are you killed? Shrieked Diana, throwing herself on her
• 5:00:15
  knees beside her friend. Oh, Anne, dear Anne, speak just one
• 5:00:19
  word to me and tell me if you're killed. To the immense relief of
• 5:00:23
  all the girls, and especially of Josie Pye, who, in spite of
• 5:00:26
  lack of imagination, had been seized with horrible visions of a future branded as
• 5:00:30
  the girl who was the cause of Anne Shirley's early and tragic death. Anne
• 5:00:33
  sat dizzily up and answered uncertainly, No, Diana, I am not killed,
• 5:00:38
  but I think I am rendered unconscious. Where, sobbed Carrie Sloane.
• 5:00:42
  Oh where Anne? Before Anne could answer, Missus Barry appeared on the scene.
• 5:00:47
  At sight of her. Anne tried to scramble to her feet, but
• 5:00:49
  sank back again with a sharp little cry of pain. What's the matter?
• 5:00:53
  Where have you hurt yourself? Demanded Missus Barry. My ankle gasped Anne.
• 5:00:57
  Oh, Diana, please find your father and ask him to take me home.
• 5:01:00
  I know I could never walk there, and I'm sure I couldn't hop
• 5:01:03
  so far on one foot when Jane couldn't even hop around the garden. Marilla
• 5:01:08
  was out in the orchard picking a panful of summer apples when she saw mister
• 5:01:11
  Barry coming over the log bridge and up the slope, with Missus Barry beside
• 5:01:15
  him and a whole procession of little girls trailing after him. In his arms,
• 5:01:19
  he carried Anne, whose head lay limply against his shoulder. At that
• 5:01:23
  moment, Marilla had a revelation in the sudden stab of fear that pierced her
• 5:01:27
  very heart. She realized what Anne had come to mean to her. She
• 5:01:30
  would have admitted that she liked Anne, nay, that she was very fond
• 5:01:34
  of Anne. But now she knew, as she hurried wildly down the slope,
• 5:01:37
  that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth. Mister Barry,
• 5:01:41
  what has happened to her? She gasped, more white and shaken than
• 5:01:44
  the self contained, sensible Marilla had been for many years. Anne herself answered,
• 5:01:48
  lifting her head, don't be very frightened, Marilla. I was walking
• 5:01:52
  the ridgepole and I fell off. I expect I have sprained my ankle,
• 5:01:56
  but Marilla, I might have broken my neck. Let us look on the
• 5:01:59
  bright side of things. I might have known you'd go and do something of
• 5:02:02
  the sort when I let you go to that party, said Marilla, sharp
• 5:02:04
  and shrewish in her very relief. Bring her in here, mister Barry,
• 5:02:07
  and lay her on the sofa. Mercy me, the child has gone him
• 5:02:11
  fainted. It was quite true. Overcome by the pain of her injury,
• 5:02:15
  Anne had one more of her wishes granted to her. She had fainted dead
• 5:02:18
  away. Matthew hastily summoned from the harvest field, was straightway despatched for the
• 5:02:22
  doctor, who in due time came to discover that the injury was more serious
• 5:02:26
  than they had supposed. Anne's ankle was broken that night. When Marilla went
• 5:02:32
  up to the east gable, where a white faced girl was lying, a
• 5:02:34
  plaintive voice greeted her from the bed. Aren't you very sorry for me?
• 5:02:37
  Marilla? It was your own fault, said Marilla, twitching down the blind
• 5:02:41
  and lighting a lamp. And that is just why you should be sorry for
• 5:02:45
  me, said Anne, because the thought that it is all my fault is
• 5:02:48
  what makes it so hard. If I could blame it on anybody, I
• 5:02:52
  would feel so much better. But what would you have done, Marilla,
• 5:02:55
  if you'd been dared to walk a ridgepole, I'd have stayed on good,
• 5:02:57
  firm ground and let them dare away. Such absurdity, said Marilla. Anne
• 5:03:03
  sighed, But you have such strength of mind, Marilla, I haven't.
• 5:03:07
  I just felt that I couldn't bear Josie Pye's scorn. She would have crowed
• 5:03:11
  over me all my life. And I think I've been punished so much that
• 5:03:15
  you needn't be very cross with me. Marilla, it's not a bit nice
• 5:03:18
  to feign after all, and the doctor hurt me dreadfully when he was setting
• 5:03:22
  my ankle. I won't be able to go around for six or seven weeks,
• 5:03:26
  and I'll miss the new lady teacher. She won't be you any more.
• 5:03:29
  By the time I'm able to go to school and gilt, everybody will
• 5:03:32
  get ahead of me in class. Oh, I am an afflicted mortal,
• 5:03:36
  but I'll try to bear it all bravely, if only you won't be cross
• 5:03:38
  with me, Marilla. There there, I am not cross, said Marilla.
• 5:03:42
  You're an unlucky child. There's no doubt about that. But as you
• 5:03:45
  say, you'll have the suffering of it here. Now, try and eat
• 5:03:48
  some supper. Isn't it fortunate I've got such an imagination, said Anne?
• 5:03:53
  It will help me through splendidly. I expect. What do people who haven't
• 5:03:56
  any imagination do when they break their bones? Do you, sup? Marilla?
• 5:04:00
  Anne had good reason to bless her imagination many a time and off during
• 5:04:04
  the tedious seven weeks that followed, but she was not solely dependent on it.
• 5:04:08
  She had many visitors, and not a day pass without one or more
• 5:04:11
  of the schoolgirls dropping in to bring her flowers and books and tell her all
• 5:04:15
  the happenings in the juvenile world of Avonlea. Everyone has been so good and
• 5:04:19
  kind, Marilla sighed Anne happily on the day when she could first limp across
• 5:04:22
  the floor. It isn't very pleasant to be laid up, but there is
• 5:04:26
  a bright side to it, Marilla. You find out how many friends you
• 5:04:30
  have. Why even Superintendent Belle came to see me. And he's really a
• 5:04:33
  very fine man, not a kindred spirit, of course, but still I
• 5:04:37
  like him, and I'm awfully sorry I ever criticized his prayers. I believe
• 5:04:41
  now he really does mean them, only he has got into the habit of
• 5:04:44
  saying them as if he didn't. He could get over it if he'd take
• 5:04:45
  a little trouble. I gave him a good broad hint. I told him
• 5:04:49
  how hard I'd try to make my own little private prayers interesting. He told
• 5:04:53
  me all about the time he broke his ankle when he was a boy.
• 5:04:56
  It does seem so strange to think of Superintendent bell Ever being Even my imagination
• 5:05:00
  has its limits, for I can't imagine that when I try to imagine him
• 5:05:04
  as a boy, I see him with gray whiskers and spectacles, just as
• 5:05:07
  he looks in Sunday School. Only small now, it's so easy to imagine
• 5:05:11
  Missus Allan as a little girl. Missus Allan has been to see me fourteen
• 5:05:15
  times. Isn't that something to be proud of? Marilla When a minister's wife
• 5:05:18
  has so many claims on her time, she is such a tearful person to
• 5:05:22
  have visited you too. She never tells you it is your own fault,
• 5:05:26
  and she hopes she'll be a better girl on account of it. Missus Lynde
• 5:05:29
  always told me that when she came to see me, and she said it
• 5:05:30
  in a kind of way that made me feel she might hope I'd be a
• 5:05:33
  better girl, but didn't really believe I would. Even Josie Pye came to
• 5:05:37
  see me, I received her as politely as I could, because I think
• 5:05:41
  she was sorry. She dared me to walk a ridgepole. If I had
• 5:05:44
  been killed, she would have had to carry a dark burden of remorse all
• 5:05:47
  her life. Diana has been a faithful friend. She's been over every day
• 5:05:51
  to cheer my lonely pillow. But oh, I shall be so glad when
• 5:05:53
  I can go to school for I've heard such exciting things about the new teacher.
• 5:05:57
  The girls all think she is perfect, quickly sweet. Diana says she
• 5:06:00
  has the loveliest fair curly hair and such fascinating eyes. She dresses beautifully and
• 5:06:07
  her sleeve puffs are bigger than anybody else's in Avonlea. Every other Friday afternoon
• 5:06:11
  she has recitations and everybody has to say a piece or take a part in
• 5:06:15
  a dialog. Oh, it's just glorious to think of it. Josie Pye
• 5:06:18
  says she hates it, but that is just because Josie has so little imagination.
• 5:06:22
  Diana and Ruby Gillis and Jane Andrews are preparing a dialogue called a Morning
• 5:06:26
  Visit for next Friday, and the Friday afternoons they don't have recitations. Miss
• 5:06:30
  Stacy takes them all to the woods for a field day and they study ferns
• 5:06:33
  and flowers and birds, and they have physical culture exercises every morning and evening.
• 5:06:38
  Missus Lynde says she never heard of such goings on, and it all
• 5:06:41
  comes of having a lady teacher. But I think it must be splendid,
• 5:06:45
  and I believe I shall find that Miss Stacy is a kindred spirit. There's
• 5:06:48
  one thing plain to be seen, Anne, said Marilla, and that is
• 5:06:52
  that your fall off the berry roof hasn't injured your tongue at all. End
• 5:06:56
  of chapter twenty three. Chapter twenty four, Miss Stacy and her pupils get
• 5:07:02
  up a concert. It was October again when Anne was ready to go back
• 5:07:07
  to school, a glorious October, all red and gold, with mellow mornings,
• 5:07:11
  when the valleys were filled with delicate mists, as if the spirit of
• 5:07:14
  Autumn had poured them in for the sun to drain. Amethyst, pearl,
• 5:07:18
  silver, rose, and smoke blue. The dews were so heavy that the
• 5:07:22
  fields glistened like cloth of silver, and there were such heaps of rustling leaves
• 5:07:26
  in the hollows of many stemmed woods to run crisply through. The birch path
• 5:07:30
  was a canopy of yellow, and the ferns were sere and brown. All
• 5:07:33
  along it. There was a tang in the very air that inspired the hearts
• 5:07:37
  of small maidens, tripping unlike snails, swiftly and willingly to school. And
• 5:07:42
  it was jolly to be back again at the little brown desk beside Diana with
• 5:07:47
  ruby Gillis nodding across the aisle, and Carrie Sloane sending up notes and Julia
• 5:07:51
  Bell passing a chew of gum down from the back seat. Anne drew a
• 5:07:55
  long breath of happiness as she sharpened her pencil and arranged her picture cards in
• 5:07:59
  her desk. Life was certainly very interesting. In the new teacher, she
• 5:08:03
  found another true and helpful friend. Miss Stacy was a bright, sympathetic young
• 5:08:07
  woman with the happy gift of winning and holding the affections of her pupils and
• 5:08:11
  bringing out the best that was in them mentally and morally. Anne expanded like
• 5:08:15
  a flower under this wholesome influence and carried home to the admiring Matthew and the
• 5:08:19
  critical Marilla glowing accounts of schoolwork and aims. I love miss Stacy with my
• 5:08:25
  whole heart, Marilla. She is so ladylike and has such a sweet voice.
• 5:08:30
  When she pronounces my name, I feel instinctively that she spelling it with
• 5:08:33
  an E. We had recitations this afternoon. I just wish you could have
• 5:08:37
  been there to hear me recite Mary, Queen of Scot's. I just put
• 5:08:40
  my whole soul into it. Ruby Gillis told me coming home that the way
• 5:08:44
  I set the line now for my father's arms, she said, my woman's
• 5:08:47
  heart farewell just made her blood run cold. Well, now you might recite
• 5:08:52
  it for me some of these days out in the barn, suggested Matthew.
• 5:08:56
  Of course I will, said Anne meditatively, But I won't be able to
• 5:09:00
  do it so well. I know it won't be so exciting as it is
• 5:09:03
  when you have a whole schoolful before you hanging breathlessly on your words. I
• 5:09:07
  know I won't be able to make your blood run cold. Missus Lynde said
• 5:09:10
  it made her blood run cold to see the boys clumbing to the very top
• 5:09:12
  of those big trees on Bell's Hill after Crow's Nest last Friday, said Marilla.
• 5:09:17
  I wonder at Miss Stacy for encouraging it. But we wanted a crow's
• 5:09:21
  nest for nature's study, explained Anne. That was on our field afternoon.
• 5:09:25
  Field afternoons are splendid, Marilla, and Miss Stacy explains everything so beautifully.
• 5:09:30
  We have to write compositions on our field afternoons, and I write the best
• 5:09:33
  ones. It's very vain of you to say so, then you'd better let
• 5:09:36
  your teacher say it. But she did say it, Marilla, and indeed,
• 5:09:40
  I'm not vain about it. How can I be when I'm such a
• 5:09:41
  dunce at geometry. Although I'm really beginning to see through it a little too,
• 5:09:45
  Miss Stacy makes it so clear. Still I'll never be good at it,
• 5:09:49
  and I assure you it is a humbling reflection. But I love writing
• 5:09:53
  compositions mostly. Miss Stacy lets us choose our own subjects. But next week
• 5:09:57
  we are to write a composition on some remarkable person. It's hard to choose
• 5:10:02
  among so many remarkable people who have lived. Mustn't it be splendid to be
• 5:10:06
  remarkable and have compositions written about you after you're dead? Oh? I would
• 5:10:10
  dearly love to be remarkable. I think when I grow up, I'll be
• 5:10:12
  a trained nurse and go with the Red Crosses to the field of battle as
• 5:10:17
  a messenger of mercy. That is, if I don't go out as a
• 5:10:19
  foreign missionary. That would be very romantic. But one would have to be
• 5:10:22
  very good to be a missionary, and that would be a stumbling block.
• 5:10:26
  We have physical culture exercises every day too. They make you graceful and promote
• 5:10:30
  digestion, promote fiddlesticks, said Marilla, who honestly thought it was all nonsense.
• 5:10:37
  But all the field afternoons and recitation Fridays and physical culture contortions paled before
• 5:10:41
  a project was Miss Stacy brought forward in November. This was that the scholars
• 5:10:45
  of Avonlea School should get up a concert and hold it in the hall on
• 5:10:48
  Christmas night for the laudable purpose of helping to pay for a schoolhouse flag.
• 5:10:52
  The pupils one and all taking graciously to this plan. The preparations for a
• 5:10:56
  program were begun at once, and of all the excited performers elect none was
• 5:11:02
  so excited as Anne Shirley, who threw herself into the undertaking heart and soul.
• 5:11:06
  Hampered as she was by Marilla's disapproval, Marilla thought it all rank foolishness.
• 5:11:10
  It's just filling your heads up with nonsense and taking time that ought to
• 5:11:12
  be put on your lessons. She grumbled. I don't approve of children's getting
• 5:11:17
  up concerts and racing about to practices. It makes them vain and forward and
• 5:11:21
  fond of gadding. But think of the worthy object pleaded Anne. A flag
• 5:11:25
  will cultivate a spirit of patriotism, Marilla Fudge, there's precious little patriotism in
• 5:11:30
  the thoughts of any of you. All you want is a good time.
• 5:11:33
  Well, when you can combine patriotism and fun, isn't it all right?
• 5:11:37
  Of course? It's real nice to be getting up a concert. We're going
• 5:11:41
  to have six choruses and Diana's going to sing a solo. I'm in two
• 5:11:44
  dialogues, the Society for the Suppression of Gossip and the Fairy Queen. The
• 5:11:48
  boys are going to have a dialogue too, and I'm to have two recitations.
• 5:11:52
  Marilla. I just tremble when I think of it, but it's a
• 5:11:55
  nice, thrilly kind of tremble. And we're to have a tableau at the
• 5:11:59
  Last Faith, Hope and Charity. Diana and Ruby and I are to be
• 5:12:02
  in it, all draped in white with flowing hair. I'm to be hope
• 5:12:06
  with my hands clasped so and my eyes uplifted. I'm going to practice my
• 5:12:11
  recitations in the garret. Don't be alarmed if you hear me groaning. I
• 5:12:14
  have to groan heartrendingly in one of them, and it's really hard to get
• 5:12:17
  up a good artistic groan. Marilla. Josie Pye is sulky because she didn't
• 5:12:21
  get the part she wanted in the dialog. She wanted to be the fairy
• 5:12:23
  queen. That would have been ridiculous, for whoever heard of a fairy queen
• 5:12:26
  as fat as Josie? Fairy queens must be slender. Jane Andrews is to
• 5:12:30
  be the queen, and I am to be one of her maids of honor.
• 5:12:33
  Josie says she thinks a red haired fairies just as ridiculous as a fat
• 5:12:37
  one. But I do not let myself mind what Josie says. I'm to
• 5:12:41
  have a wreath of white roses on my hair, and Ruby Gillis is going
• 5:12:42
  to lend me her slippers because I haven't any of my own. It's necessary
• 5:12:47
  for fairies to have slippers. You know. You couldn't imagine a fairy wearing
• 5:12:49
  boots, could you, especially with copper toes. We are going to decorate
• 5:12:53
  the hall with creeping spruce and fir mottoes with pink tissue paper roses in them,
• 5:12:57
  and we are all to march in two by too after the audience is
• 5:13:00
  seated, while Emma White plays a march on the organ. Oh Marilla,
• 5:13:04
  I know you are not so enthusiastic about it as I am, but don't
• 5:13:07
  you hope your little Anne will distinguish herself. All I hope is that you'll
• 5:13:11
  behave yourself. I'll be heartily glad when all this fuss is over and you'll
• 5:13:15
  be able to settle down. You are simply good for nothing, just now,
• 5:13:18
  with your head stuffed full of dialogs and groans and tableaus. As for
• 5:13:22
  your tongue, it's a marvel. It's not clean. Worn out, Anne
• 5:13:26
  sighed and betook herself to the back yard, over which a young new moon
• 5:13:30
  was shining through the leafless poplar boughs from an apple green western sky, and
• 5:13:33
  where Matthew was splitting wood. Anne perched herself on a block and talked the
• 5:13:37
  concert over with him, Sure of an appreciative and sympathetic listener in this instance
• 5:13:41
  at least. Well, now, I reckon, it's going to be a
• 5:13:45
  pretty good concert, and I expect you'll do your part fine, he said,
• 5:13:48
  smiling down into her eager, vivacious little face. Anne smiled back at
• 5:13:53
  him. Those two were the best of friends, and Matthew thanked his stars
• 5:13:57
  many a time, and oft that he had nothing to do with bringing her
• 5:14:00
  up. That was Marilla's exclusive duty. If it had been his he would
• 5:14:04
  have been worried over frequent conflicts between inclination and said duty. As it was,
• 5:14:10
  he was free to spoil Anne Marilla's phrasing as much as he liked.
• 5:14:14
  But it was not such a bad arrangement. After all, a little appreciation
• 5:14:18
  sometimes does quite as much good as all the conscientious bringing up in the world.
• 5:14:23
  End of chapter twenty four. Chapter twenty five, Matthew insists on puffed
• 5:14:29
  sleeves. Matthew was having a bad ten minutes of it. He had come
• 5:14:33
  into the kitchen in the twilight of a cold, gray December evening and had
• 5:14:37
  sat down in the wood box corner to take off his heavy boots, unconscious
• 5:14:41
  of the fact that Anne and a bevy of her schoolmates were having a practice
• 5:14:44
  of the fairy Queen in the sitting room. Presently, they came trooping through
• 5:14:47
  the hall and out into the kitchen, laughing and chattering gaily. They did
• 5:14:51
  not see Matthew, who shrank bashfully back into the shadows beyond the wood box
• 5:14:55
  with a boot in one hand and a boot jack in the other, and
• 5:14:57
  watched them shyly for the aforesaid ten tuns minutes as they put on caps and
• 5:15:00
  jackets and talked about the dialogue and the concert. Anne stood among them,
• 5:15:06
  bright eyed and animated as they but Matthew suddenly became conscious that there was something
• 5:15:10
  about her different from her mates. And what worried Matthew was that the difference
• 5:15:15
  impressed him as being something that should not exist. Anne had a brighter face,
• 5:15:18
  and bigger, starrier eyes, and more delicate features than the others.
• 5:15:22
  Even shy, unobservant Matthew had learned to take note of these things. But
• 5:15:26
  the difference that disturbed him did not consist in any of these respects. Then
• 5:15:30
  in what did it consist? Matthew was haunted by this question, long after
• 5:15:34
  the girls had gone arm in arm down the long, hard frozen lane and
• 5:15:38
  Anne had betaken herself to her books. He could not refer it to Marilla,
• 5:15:42
  who he felt would be quite sure to stiff scornfully and remark that the
• 5:15:45
  only difference she saw between Anne and the other girls was that they sometimes kept
• 5:15:49
  their tongues quiet, while Anne never did this, Matthew felt would be no
• 5:15:53
  great help. He had recourse to his pipe that evening to help him study
• 5:15:57
  it out, much to Marilla's disgust. After two hours of smoking and hard
• 5:16:02
  reflection, Matthew arrived at a solution of his problem. Anne was not dressed
• 5:16:06
  like the other girls. The more Matthew thought about the matter, the more
• 5:16:10
  he was convinced that Anne never had been dressed like the other girls. Never
• 5:16:14
  since she came to Green Gables. Marilla kept her clothed in plain, dark
• 5:16:18
  dresses, all made after the same unvarying pattern. If Matthew knew there was
• 5:16:22
  such a thing as fashion in dress, it was as much as he did.
• 5:16:25
  But he was quite sure that Anne's sleeves did not look at all like
• 5:16:29
  the sleeves the other girls wore. He recalled the cluster of little girls he
• 5:16:32
  had seen around her that evening, all gay in waists of red and blue
• 5:16:36
  and pink and white, and he wondered why Marilla always kept her so plainly
• 5:16:40
  and soberly gowned. Of course, it must be all right. Marilla knew
• 5:16:45
  best, and Marilla was bringing her up. Probably some wise inscrutable motive was
• 5:16:48
  to be served thereby. But surely it would do no harm to let the
• 5:16:52
  child have one pretty dress, something like Diana Barry always wore. Matthew decided
• 5:16:57
  that he would give her one act surely could not be objected to as an
• 5:17:00
  unwarranted putting in of his oar. Christmas was only a fortnight off. A
• 5:17:04
  nice new dress would be the very thing for a present. Matthew, with
• 5:17:08
  a sigh of satisfaction, put away his pipe and went to bed, while
• 5:17:11
  Marilla opened all the doors and aired the house. The very next evening,
• 5:17:15
  Matthew betook himself to Carmody to buy the dress, determined to get the worst
• 5:17:19
  over and have done with it. It would be, he felt, assured,
• 5:17:22
  no trifling ordeal. There were some things Matthew could buy and prove himself
• 5:17:26
  no mean bargainer, but he knew he would be at the mercy of shopkeepers
• 5:17:30
  when it came to buying a girl's dress. After much cogitation, Matthew resolved
• 5:17:34
  to go to Samuel Lawson's store instead of William Blair's, to be sure.
• 5:17:38
  The Cuthberts always had gone to William Blair's. It was almost as much a
• 5:17:41
  matter of conscience with them as to attend the Presbyterian church and vote conservative.
• 5:17:47
  But William Blair's two daughters frequently waited on customers there, and Matthew held them
• 5:17:51
  in absolute dread. He could contrive to deal with them when he knew exactly
• 5:17:55
  what he wanted and could point it out. But in such a matter as
• 5:17:57
  this requiring explain in consultation, Matthew felt that he must be sure of a
• 5:18:03
  man behind the counter, so he would go to Lawson's, where Samuel or
• 5:18:06
  his son would wait on him. Alas Matthew did not know that Samuel,
• 5:18:10
  in the recent expansion of his business, had set up a lady clerk also.
• 5:18:14
  She was a niece of his wife's, and a very dashing young person,
• 5:18:17
  indeed, with a huge, drooping pompadour, big rolling brown eyes,
• 5:18:21
  and a most extensive and bewildering smile. She was dressed with exceeding smartness and
• 5:18:26
  wore several bangle bracelets that glittered and rattled and tinkled with every movement of her
• 5:18:30
  hands. Matthew was covered with confusion at finding her there at all, and
• 5:18:33
  those bangles completely wrecked his wits. At one fell swoop, What can I
• 5:18:37
  do for you this evening, mister Cuthbert, Miss Lucilla Harris, inquired,
• 5:18:41
  briskly and ingratiatingly, tapping the counter with both hands. Have you any any
• 5:18:48
  any well now, say any garden rakes, stammered Matthew. Miss Harris looked
• 5:18:53
  somewhat surprised as well. She might to hear a man inquiring for garden rakes
• 5:18:57
  in the middle of December. I believe we have one or two left over,
• 5:19:02
  she said, But they're upstairs in the lumber room. I'll go and
• 5:19:04
  see. During her absence, Matthew collected his scattered senses for another effort.
• 5:19:10
  When Miss Harris returned with the rake and cheerfully inquired anything else to night mister
• 5:19:14
  Cuthbert, Matthew took his courage in both hands and replied, well, now,
• 5:19:18
  since you suggest it, I might as well take that is, look
• 5:19:22
  at buy some some hay seed. Miss Harris had heard Matthew Cuthbert called awed.
• 5:19:30
  She now concluded that he was entirely crazy. We only keep hay seed
• 5:19:33
  in the spring, she explained, loftily. We've not on hand just now.
• 5:19:37
  Oh, certainly, certainly, just as you say, stammered unhappy Matthew,
• 5:19:42
  seizing the rake and making for the door at the threshold, he recollected
• 5:19:47
  that he had not paid for it, and he turned miserably back. While
• 5:19:49
  Miss Harris was counting out his change, he rallied his powers for a final
• 5:19:52
  desperate attempt. Well, now, if it isn't too much trouble, I
• 5:19:57
  might as well. That is, I'd like to look at at some sugar,
• 5:20:03
  white or brown, queried Miss Harris patiently. Oh well, now brown,
• 5:20:10
  said Matthew feebly. There's a barrel of it over there, said Miss
• 5:20:12
  Harris, shaking her bangles at it. It's the only kind we have.
• 5:20:17
  I'll I'll take twenty pounds of it, said Matthew, with beads of perspiration
• 5:20:22
  standing on his forehead. Matthew had driven half way home before he was his
• 5:20:26
  own man again. It had been a gruesome experience, but it served him
• 5:20:30
  right, he thought, for committing the heresy of going to a strange store.
• 5:20:33
  When he reached home, he hid the rake in the tool house,
• 5:20:36
  but the sugar he carried in to Marilla. Brown sugar, exclaimed Marilla.
• 5:20:41
  Whatever possessed you to get so much? You know, I never use it
• 5:20:44
  except for the hired man's porridge or black fruit cake. Jerry's gone and I've
• 5:20:47
  made my cake long ago. It's not good sugar either. It's coarse and
• 5:20:51
  dark. William Blair doesn't usually keep sugar like that. I I thought it
• 5:20:56
  might come in handy some time, said Matthew, making good his escape.
• 5:21:00
  When Matthew came to think the matter over, he decided that a woman was
• 5:21:03
  required to cope with the situation. Marilla was out of the question. Matthew
• 5:21:07
  felt sure she would throw cold water on his project. At once. Remained
• 5:21:11
  only Missus Lynde. For of no other woman in Avonlea would Matthew have dared
• 5:21:15
  to ask advice to Missus Lynde. He went accordingly, and that good lady
• 5:21:18
  promptly took the matter out of the harrised man's hands. Pick out a dress
• 5:21:22
  for you to give Anne. To be sure, I will I'm going to
• 5:21:26
  Carmody tomorrow and I'll attend to it. Have you something particular in mind?
• 5:21:30
  No, well, I'll just go by my own judgment. Then I believe
• 5:21:33
  a nice, rich brown would just suit Anne. And William Blair has some
• 5:21:37
  new Gloria in that's real pretty. Perhaps you'd like me to make it up
• 5:21:41
  for her too, Seeing that if Marilla was to make it, Anne would
• 5:21:44
  probably get wind of it before the time and spoil the surprise. Well,
• 5:21:48
  I'll do it. No, it isn't a mite of trouble. I like
• 5:21:51
  sewing. I'll make it to fit my niece Jenny Gillis, for she and
• 5:21:53
  Anne are as like as two peas as far as figure goes. Well,
• 5:21:57
  now I'm much obliged, said Matthew. And and I dunno, but i'd
• 5:22:03
  like I think they make the sleeves different nowadays to what they used to be.
• 5:22:07
  If it wouldn't be asking too much, I I'd like them made in
• 5:22:11
  the new way puffs. Of course, you needn't worry expect more about it,
• 5:22:15
  Matthew. I'll make it up in the very latest fashion, said missus
• 5:22:18
  Lynde to herself. She added, when Matthew had gone, it'll be a
• 5:22:22
  real satisfaction to see that poor child wearing something decent for once. The way
• 5:22:26
  Marilla dresses her is positively ridiculous, that's what. And I've ached to tell
• 5:22:30
  her so plainly a dozen times. I've held my tongue though, for I
• 5:22:34
  can see Marilla doesn't want advice, and she thinks she knows more about bringing
• 5:22:37
  up children than I do. For all, she's an old maid. But
• 5:22:41
  that's always the way. Folks that has brought up children know. There's no
• 5:22:45
  hard and fast method in the world that'll suit every child, but them as
• 5:22:48
  never have. Think it's all plain and easy as rule of three. Just
• 5:22:52
  set your three terms down so fashion and the sum will work out correct.
• 5:22:55
  But flesh and blood don't come under the head of arithmetic. And that's where
• 5:22:57
  Marilla Cuthbert makes her miss I suppose she's trying to cultivate a spirit of humility
• 5:23:03
  in Anne by dressing her as she does, but it's more likely to cultivate
• 5:23:06
  envy and discontent. I'm sure the child must feel the difference between her clothes
• 5:23:10
  and the other girls. But to think of Matthew taking notice of it.
• 5:23:14
  That man is waking up after being asleep for over sixty years. Marilla knew
• 5:23:18
  all the following fortnight that Matthew had something on his mind, but what it
• 5:23:22
  was she could not guess until Christmas Eve, when missus Lynde brought up the
• 5:23:25
  new dress. Marilla behaved pretty well on the whole, although it is very
• 5:23:29
  likely she distrusted missus Lynde's diplomatic explanation that she had made the dress because Matthew
• 5:23:33
  was afraid Anne would find out about it too soon if Marilla made it.
• 5:23:37
  So this is what Matthew has been looking so mysterious over and grinning about to
• 5:23:41
  himself for two weeks? Is it? She said, a little stiffly,
• 5:23:44
  but tolerantly. I knew he was up to some foolishness. Well, I
• 5:23:48
  must say, I don't think Anne needed any more dresses. I made her
• 5:23:49
  three good, warm, serviceable ones this fall, and anything more is sheer
• 5:23:53
  extravagance. There's enough material in those sleeves alone to make a waste, I
• 5:23:57
  declare there is. You'll just pamper Anne's vanity, Matthew, And she's as
• 5:24:02
  vain as a peacock. Now, well, I hope she'll be satisfied at
• 5:24:04
  last, for I know she's been hankering after those silly sleeves ever since they
• 5:24:08
  came in, although she never said a word after the first. The puffs
• 5:24:11
  have been getting bigger and more ridiculous right along. They're as big as balloons.
• 5:24:15
  Now next year, anybody who wears them will have to go through a
• 5:24:18
  door's sideways. Christmas morning broke on a beautiful white world. It had been
• 5:24:23
  a very mild December, and people had looked forward to a green Christmas,
• 5:24:27
  but just enough snow fell softly in the night to transfigure Avonlea. Anne peeped
• 5:24:33
  out from her frosted gable window with delighted eyes. The furs in the haunted
• 5:24:37
  wood were all feathery and wonderful. The birches and wild cherry trees were outlined
• 5:24:41
  in pearl, The plowed fields were stretches of snowy dimples, and there was
• 5:24:45
  a crisp tang in the air that was glorious. Anne ran downstairs, singing
• 5:24:48
  until her voice re echoed through green gables. Merry Christmas, Marilla, Merry
• 5:24:52
  Christmas, Matthew, isn't it a lovely Christmas? I'm so glad it's white.
• 5:24:56
  Any other kind of Christmas doesn't seem real, does it. I don't
• 5:25:00
  like green Christmases. They're not green. They're just nasty, faded browns and
• 5:25:03
  grays. What makes people call them green? Why? Why, Matthew?
• 5:25:08
  Is that for me? Oh, Matthew? Matthew had sheepishly unfolded the dress
• 5:25:15
  from its paper swathings and held it out with a deprecatory glance at Marilla,
• 5:25:18
  who feigned to be contemptuously filling the teapot, but nevertheless watched the scene out
• 5:25:22
  of the corner of her eye with a rather interested air. Anne took the
• 5:25:26
  dress and looked at it in reverent silence. Oh, how pretty It was
• 5:25:30
  a lovely, soft brown gloria with all the gloss of silk, a skirt
• 5:25:34
  with dainty frills and shirrings, a waiste elaborately pin tucked in the most fashionable
• 5:25:38
  way, with a little ruffle of filmy lace at the neck. But the
• 5:25:42
  sleeves, they were the crowning glory, long elbow cuffs, and above them
• 5:25:48
  two beautiful puffs divided by rows of shirring and bows of brown silk ribbon.
• 5:25:53
  That's a Christmas present for you, Anne, said Matthew shyly. Why why
• 5:25:59
  Anne, don't you like it? Well? Now, well, now for
• 5:26:03
  Anne's eyes sat suddenly filled with tears. Like it, Oh, Matthew.
• 5:26:08
  Anne laid the dress over a chair and clasped her hands. Matthew, it's
• 5:26:12
  perfectly exquisite. Oh, I can never thank you enough. Look at those
• 5:26:17
  sleeves. Oh, it seems to me this must be a happy dream.
• 5:26:21
  Well, well let's have breakfast. Interrupted, Marilla, I must say,
• 5:26:25
  Anne, I don't think you needed the dress, but since Matthew has got
• 5:26:26
  it for you, see that you take good care of it. There's a
• 5:26:30
  hair ribbon. Missus Lynde left for you. It's brown to match the dress.
• 5:26:33
  Come now, sit in. I don't see how I'm going to eat
• 5:26:36
  breakfast, said Anne rapturously. Breakfast seems so commonplace at such an exciting time.
• 5:26:41
  I'd rather feast my eyes on that dress. I'm so glad that Puff's
• 5:26:45
  sleeves are still fashionable. It did seem to me that i'd never get over
• 5:26:48
  it. If they went out before I had a dress with them, I'd
• 5:26:51
  never have felt quite satisfied. You see, it was lovely of missus Lynde
• 5:26:55
  to give me the ribbon too. I feel that I ought to be a
• 5:26:57
  very good girl. Indeed, it's times like this I'm sorry. I'm not
• 5:27:00
  a model little girl, and I always resolve that I will be in future,
• 5:27:04
  But somehow it's hard to carry out your resolutions when irresistible temptations come.
• 5:27:08
  Still, I really will make an extra effort after this. When the commonplace
• 5:27:14
  breakfast was over, Diana appeared crossing the white log bridge in the hollow,
• 5:27:18
  a gay little figure in her Crimson ulster. Anne flew down the slope to
• 5:27:22
  meet her. Merry Christmas, Diana, and oh, it's a wonderful Christmas.
• 5:27:26
  I've something splendid to show you. Matthew has given me the loveliest dress
• 5:27:30
  with such sleeves I couldn't even imagine any nicer. I've got something more for
• 5:27:34
  you, said Diana breathlessly. Here this box. Aunt Josephine sent us out
• 5:27:40
  a big box with ever so many things in it, and this is for
• 5:27:41
  you. I'd have brought it over last night, but it didn't come until
• 5:27:45
  after dark. And I never feel very comfortable coming through the haunted wood in
• 5:27:48
  the dark. Now. Anne opened the box and peeped in. First a
• 5:27:52
  card with for the Anne Girl and Merry Christmas written on it, and then
• 5:27:56
  a pair of the daintiest little kid's slippers with beaded toes and satin bows and
• 5:28:00
  glistening buckles. Oh, said Anne. Diana, this is too much.
• 5:28:06
  I must be dreaming. I call it providential, said Diana. You won't
• 5:28:10
  have to borrow Ruby's slippers now, and that's a blessing for their two size
• 5:28:14
  is too big for you. And it would be awful to hear a fairy
• 5:28:15
  shuffling. Josie Pye would be delighted, mind you. Rob Bright went home
• 5:28:21
  with Gerdy Pye from the practice night before last, did you ever hear anything
• 5:28:23
  equal to that? All the Avonleas scholars were in a fever of excitement that
• 5:28:29
  day, for the hall had to be decorated and a last grand rehearsal held.
• 5:28:33
  The concert came off in the evening and was a pronounced success. The
• 5:28:36
  little hall was crowded. All the performers did excellently well, but Anne was
• 5:28:40
  the bright particular star of the occasion. As even Envy, in the shape
• 5:28:44
  of Josie Pye dared not deny. Oh, hasn't it been a brilliant evening?
• 5:28:48
  Sighed Anne. When it was all over and she and Diana were walking
• 5:28:51
  home together under a dark, starry sky. Everything went off very well,
• 5:28:56
  said Diana. Practically, I guess we must have made as much as ten
• 5:28:59
  dollars. Mind you, mister Allan is going to send an account of it
• 5:29:02
  to the Charlottetown papers. Oh Diana, will we really see our names in
• 5:29:07
  print? It makes me thrill to think of it. Your solo was perfectly
• 5:29:11
  elegant, Diana, I felt prouder than you did when it was oncoard.
• 5:29:14
  I just said to myself, it is my dear bosom friend who is so
• 5:29:18
  honored. Well, your recitation's just brought down the house. Anne. That
• 5:29:22
  sad one was simply splendid. Oh, I was so nervous, Diana,
• 5:29:25
  when mister Allan called out my name. I really cannot tell how I ever
• 5:29:29
  got up on that platform. I felt as if a million eyes were looking
• 5:29:32
  at me and through me, And for one dreadful moment I was sure I
• 5:29:34
  couldn't begin at all. Then I thought of my lovely puffed sleeves and took
• 5:29:38
  courage. I knew that I must live up to those sleeves, Diana.
• 5:29:41
  So I started in, and my voice seemed to be coming from ever so
• 5:29:45
  far away. I just felt like a parrot. It's providential that I practiced
• 5:29:48
  those recitations so often up in the garret, or i'd never have been able
• 5:29:52
  to get through. Did I groan all right? Yes? Indeed you groaned
• 5:29:56
  lovely, assured Diana. I saw old missus Sloane wiping away when I sat
• 5:30:00
  down. It was splendid to think I had touched somebody's heart. It's so
• 5:30:03
  romantic to take part in a concert, isn't it. Oh, it's been
• 5:30:07
  a very memorable occasion. Indeed, wasn't the boy's dialogue? Fine? Said
• 5:30:11
  Diana Gilbert blythe was just splendid. Anne. I do think it's awful mean
• 5:30:15
  the way you treat Gil. Wait till I tell you. When you ran
• 5:30:18
  off the platform after the fairy dialogue, one of your roses fell out of
• 5:30:22
  your hair. I saw Gil pick it up and put it in his breast
• 5:30:25
  pocket. There. Now, you're so romantic that I'm sure you ought to
• 5:30:29
  be pleased at that. It's nothing to me what that person does, said
• 5:30:33
  Anne loftily. I simply never waste a thought on him, Diana. That
• 5:30:37
  night, Marilla and Matthew, who had been out to a concert for the
• 5:30:40
  first time in twenty years, sat for a while by the kitchen fire after
• 5:30:44
  Anne had gone to bed. Well, now, I guess our Anne did
• 5:30:48
  as well as any of them, said Matthew proudly. Yes she did,
• 5:30:51
  admitted Marilla. She's a bright child, Matthew, and she looked real nice
• 5:30:55
  too. I've been kind of opposed to this concert scheme, but I suppose
• 5:30:59
  there's no real harm in it after all. Anyhow, I was proud of
• 5:31:02
  Anne tonight, although I'm not going to tell her so well now, I
• 5:31:06
  was proud of her, and I did tell her so, for she went
• 5:31:08
  upstairs, said Matthew. We must see what we can do for her some
• 5:31:11
  of these days, Marilla. I guess she'll need something more than Avonlea school
• 5:31:15
  by and by there's time enough to think of that, said Marilla. She's
• 5:31:18
  only thirteen in March, though to night it struck me she was growing quite
• 5:31:22
  a big girl. Missus Lynde made that dress a mite too long, and
• 5:31:26
  it makes Anne look so tall. She's quick to learn, and I guess
• 5:31:30
  the best thing we can do for her will be to send her to Queen's
• 5:31:32
  after a spell. But nothing need be said about that for a year or
• 5:31:34
  two. Yet. Well now it'll do no harm to be thinking it over,
• 5:31:38
  off and on, said Matthew. Things like that are all the better
• 5:31:41
  for lots of thinking over. End of chapter twenty five. Chapter twenty six,
• 5:31:48
  the story Club is formed. Junior Avonlea found it hard to settle down
• 5:31:53
  to humdrum existence again. To Anne, in particular, things seemed fearfully flat,
• 5:31:59
  stale, and profitable. After the goblet of excitement she had been sipping
• 5:32:02
  for weeks. Could she go back to the former quiet pleasures of those far
• 5:32:07
  away days before the concert? At first, as she told Diana, she
• 5:32:11
  did not really think she could. I'm positively certain, Diana, that life
• 5:32:15
  can never be quite the same again as it was in those olden days,
• 5:32:18
  she said mournfully, as if referring to a period of at least fifty years
• 5:32:22
  back. Perhaps after a while I'll get used to it. But I'm afraid
• 5:32:26
  concerts spoil people for every day life. I suppose that is why Marilla disapproves
• 5:32:30
  of them. Marilla is such a sensible woman. It must be a great
• 5:32:33
  deal better to be sensible. But still I don't believe i'd really want to
• 5:32:37
  be a sensible person because they are so unromantic. Missus Lynde says, there
• 5:32:41
  is no danger of my ever being one, but you can never tell.
• 5:32:45
  I feel just now that I may grow up to be sensible yet, but
• 5:32:48
  perhaps that is only because I'm tired. I simply couldn't sleep last night for
• 5:32:52
  ever so long. I just lay awake and imagine the concert over and over
• 5:32:56
  again. That's one splendid thing about such affairs, so lovely to look back
• 5:33:00
  to them. Eventually, however, Avonlea's School slipped back into its old groove
• 5:33:06
  and took up its old interests. To be sure, the concert left traces.
• 5:33:10
  Ruby Gillis and Emma White, who had quarreled over a point of precedence
• 5:33:14
  in their platform seats, no longer sat at the same desk, and a
• 5:33:17
  promising friendship of three years was broken up. Josie Pye and Julia Bell did
• 5:33:22
  not speak for three months because Josie Pye had told Bessie Wright that Julia Bell's
• 5:33:26
  bow when she got up to recite made her think of a chicken jerking its
• 5:33:29
  head, and Bessie told Julia none of the Sloanes would have any dealings with
• 5:33:33
  the Bells because the Bells had declared that the Sloanes had too much to do
• 5:33:36
  in the program, and the Sloanes had retorted that the Bells were not capable
• 5:33:38
  of doing the little they had to do properly. Finally, Charlie Sloane fought
• 5:33:44
  Moody Spurgeon mac Pherson because Moody Spurgeon had said that Anne Shirley put on airs
• 5:33:48
  about her recitations, and Moody Spurgeon was licked. Consequently, Moody Spurgeon's sister,
• 5:33:52
  Ella May would not speak to Anne Shirley all the rest of the winter.
• 5:33:56
  With the exception of these trifling frictions. Work in Miss Stacy's little key
• 5:34:00
  ingdam went on with regularity and smoothness. The winter week slipped by. It
• 5:34:03
  was an unusually mild winter, with so little snow that Anne and Diana could
• 5:34:07
  go to school nearly every day by way of the birch path. On Anne's
• 5:34:11
  birthday, they were tripping lightly down it, keeping eyes and ears alert amid
• 5:34:15
  all their chatter. For Miss Stacy had told them that they must soon write
• 5:34:18
  a composition on a winter's walk in the woods, and it behooved them to
• 5:34:22
  be observant. Just think, Diana, I'm thirteen years old to day,
• 5:34:26
  remarked Anne in an awed voice. I can scarcely realize that I'm in my
• 5:34:30
  teens. When I woke this morning, it seemed to me that everything must
• 5:34:33
  be different. You've been thirteen for a month, so I suppose it doesn't
• 5:34:37
  seem such a novelty to you as it does to me. It makes life
• 5:34:40
  seem so much more interesting. In two more years, I'll be really grown
• 5:34:44
  up. It's a great comfort to think that I'll be able to use big
• 5:34:47
  words. Then, without being laughed at, Ruby Gillis says she means to
• 5:34:51
  have a beau as soon as she's fifteen, said Diana. Ruby Gillis thinks
• 5:34:55
  of nothing but beaus, said Anne disdainfully. She's actually delighted when any one
• 5:35:00
  writes her name up and a take notice for all she pretends to be so
• 5:35:03
  mad. But I'm afraid that is an uncharitable speech. Missus Allan says,
• 5:35:07
  we should never make uncharitable speeches, but they do slip out so often before
• 5:35:11
  you think, don't they. I simply can't talk about Josie Pye without making
• 5:35:15
  an uncharitable speech, so I never mention her at all. You may have
• 5:35:18
  noticed that I'm trying to be as much like missus Allan as I possibly can,
• 5:35:22
  for I think she's perfect. Mister Allan thinks so too. Missus Lynde
• 5:35:26
  says he just worships the ground she treads on, and she doesn't really think
• 5:35:29
  it right for a minister to set his affections so much on a mortal being.
• 5:35:32
  But then, Diana, even ministers are human and have their besetting sins,
• 5:35:36
  just like everybody else. I had such an interesting talk with missus Allan
• 5:35:40
  about besetting sins last Sunday afternoon. There are just a few things. It's
• 5:35:44
  proper to talk about on Sundays, and that is one of them. My
• 5:35:47
  besetting sin is imagining too much and forgetting my duties. I'm striving very hard
• 5:35:51
  to overcome it, and now that i'm really thirteen, perhaps I'll get on
• 5:35:55
  better. In four more years, we'll be able to put our hair up,
• 5:35:57
  said Diana. Alice Bell is only sixteen and she's wearing hers up.
• 5:36:02
  But I think that's ridiculous. I shall wait until I'm seventeen. If I
• 5:36:06
  had Alice Bell's crooked nose, said Anne. Decidedly, I wouldn't, but
• 5:36:11
  there I won't say what I was going to because it was extremely uncharitable.
• 5:36:15
  Besides, I was comparing it with my own nose, and that's vanity.
• 5:36:18
  I'm afraid I think too much about my nose ever since I heard that compliment
• 5:36:21
  about it long ago. It really is a great comfort to me. Oh,
• 5:36:25
  Diana, look there's a rabbit. That's something to remember. For our
• 5:36:29
  woods composition, I really think the woods are just as lovely in winter as
• 5:36:32
  in summer. They're so white and still, as if they were asleep and
• 5:36:36
  dreaming pretty dreams. I won't mind writing that composition when its time comes,
• 5:36:41
  Sighed Diana, I can manage to write about the woods, but the one
• 5:36:44
  we're to hand in Monday is terrible. The idea of Miss Stacy telling us
• 5:36:48
  to write a story out of our own heads. Why it's as easy as
• 5:36:51
  wink, said Anne. It's easy for you because you have an imagination,
• 5:36:55
  retorted Diana. But what would you do if you had been born without one?
• 5:36:59
  I suppose you have your composition all done. Anne nodded, trying hard
• 5:37:03
  not to look virtuously complacent, and failing miserably. I wrote it last Monday
• 5:37:07
  evening. It's called The Jealous Rival or in Death Not Divided. I read
• 5:37:11
  it to Marilla and she said it was stuff and nonsense. Then I read
• 5:37:15
  it to Matthew and he said it was fine. That is the kind of
• 5:37:17
  critic I like. It's a sad, sweet story. I just cried like
• 5:37:21
  a child while I was writing it. It's about two beautiful maidens called Cordelia
• 5:37:25
  Mountmorency and Geraldine Seymour, who lived in the same village and were devotedly attached
• 5:37:30
  to each other. Cordelia was a regal brunette with a coronet of midnight hair
• 5:37:33
  and duskily flashing eyes. Geraldine was a queenly blonde with hair like spun gold
• 5:37:37
  and velvety purple eyes. I never saw anybody with purple eyes, said Diana
• 5:37:44
  dubiously. Neither did I. I just imagine them. I wanted something out
• 5:37:48
  of the common. Geraldine had an alabaster brow too. I found out what
• 5:37:52
  an alabaster brow is. That is one of the advantages of being thirteen.
• 5:37:56
  You know so much more than you did when you were only twelve. Well,
• 5:38:00
  what became of Cordelia and Geraldine, asked Diana, who was beginning to
• 5:38:03
  feel rather interested in their fate. They grew in beauty side by side until
• 5:38:07
  they were sixteen. Then Bertram de Vere came to their native village and fell
• 5:38:11
  in love with the fair Geraldine. He saved her life when her horse ran
• 5:38:15
  away with her in a carriage and she fainted in his arms, and he
• 5:38:18
  carried her home three miles because you understand, the carriage was all smashed up.
• 5:38:23
  I found it rather hard to imagine the proposal because I had no experience
• 5:38:26
  to go by. I asked Ruby Gillis if she knew anything about how men
• 5:38:30
  proposed, because I thought she'd likely be an authority on the subject, having
• 5:38:33
  so many sisters married. Ruby told me she was hid in the hall pantry
• 5:38:37
  when Malcolm Andrews proposed to her sister, Susan. She said, Malcolm told
• 5:38:41
  Susan that his dad had given him the farm in his own name, and
• 5:38:44
  then said, what do you say, darling pet if we get hitched this
• 5:38:45
  fall? And Susan said yes, no, I don't know, let me
• 5:38:51
  see. And there they were engaged as quick as that. But I didn't
• 5:38:55
  think that sort of a proposal was a very romantic one, so in the
• 5:38:57
  end I had to imagine it out as well as I can could. I
• 5:39:00
  made it very flowery and poetical, and Bertram went on his knees. Although
• 5:39:03
  Ruby Gillis says it isn't done nowadays. Geraldine accepted him in his speech a
• 5:39:07
  page long. I can tell you I took a lot of trouble with that
• 5:39:11
  speech. I rewrote it five times, and I look upon it as my
• 5:39:15
  masterpiece. Bertram gave her a diamond ring and a ruby necklace and told her
• 5:39:18
  they would go to Europe for a wedding tour, for he was immensely wealthy.
• 5:39:22
  But then, alas shadows began to darken over their path, Cordelia was
• 5:39:26
  secretly in love with Bertram herself, and when Geraldine told her about the engagement,
• 5:39:30
  she was simply furious, especially when she saw the necklace and the diamond
• 5:39:33
  ring. All her affection for Geraldine turned to bitter hate, and she vowed
• 5:39:37
  that she would never marry Bertram. But she pretended to be Geraldine's friend the
• 5:39:41
  same as ever. One evening, they were standing on the bridge over a
• 5:39:45
  rushing, turbulent stream, and Cordelia, thinking they were alone, pushed Geraldine
• 5:39:48
  over the brink with a wild mocking ha ha ha. But Bertram saw it
• 5:39:52
  all and he at once plunged into the current, exclaiming, I will save
• 5:39:56
  thee my peerless Geraldine. But alas he had forgotten, he couldn't swim,
• 5:40:00
  and they were both drowned, clasped in each other's arms. Their bodies were
• 5:40:03
  washed ashore. Soon afterwards. They were buried in the one grave, and
• 5:40:07
  their funeral was most imposing, Diana, it's so much more romantic to end
• 5:40:11
  a story up with a funeral than a wedding. As for Cordelia, she
• 5:40:14
  went insane with remorse and was shut up in a lunatic asylum. I thought
• 5:40:18
  that was a poetical retribution for her crime. How perfectly lovely, sighed Diana,
• 5:40:23
  who belonged to Matthew's school of critics. I don't see how you can
• 5:40:26
  make up such thrilling things out of your own head, Anne. I wish
• 5:40:30
  my imagination was as good as yours. It would be if you'd only cultivate
• 5:40:33
  it, said Anne cheeringly. I've just thought of a plan, Diana.
• 5:40:37
  Let you and me have a story club all our own and write stories for
• 5:40:41
  practice. I'll help you along until you can do them by yourself. You
• 5:40:45
  ought to cultivate your imagination, you know, Miss Stacy says so. Only
• 5:40:48
  we must take the right way. I told her about the Haunted Wood,
• 5:40:52
  but she said we went the wrong way about it in that. This was
• 5:40:55
  how the story club came into existence. It was limited to Diana and Anne
• 5:40:59
  at first, but soon it was extended to include Jane Andrews and Ruby Gillis,
• 5:41:03
  and one or two others who felt that their imaginations needed cultivating. No
• 5:41:07
  boys were allowed in it, although Ruby Gillis opined that their admission would make
• 5:41:11
  it more exciting, and each member had to produce one story a week.
• 5:41:14
  It's extremely interesting, Anne told Marilla. Each girl has to read her story
• 5:41:18
  out loud and then we talk it over. We're going to keep them all
• 5:41:22
  sacredly and have them to read to our descendants. We each write under a
• 5:41:26
  nom de plume. Mine is Rosamond mc moorency. All the girls do pretty
• 5:41:30
  well. Ruby Gillis is rather sentimental. She puts too much love making into
• 5:41:33
  her stories, and you know, too much is worse than too little.
• 5:41:37
  Jane never puts any because she says it makes her feel so silly when she
• 5:41:40
  has to read it out loud. Jane's stories are extremely sensible. Then Diana
• 5:41:44
  puts too many murders into hers. She says, most of the time she
• 5:41:48
  doesn't know what to do with the people, so she kills them off to
• 5:41:49
  get rid of them. I mostly always have to tell them what to write
• 5:41:52
  about, but that isn't hard, for I've millions of ideas. I think
• 5:41:56
  this story writing business is the foolishest yet, scoffed Marie, you'll get a
• 5:42:00
  pack of nonsense into your heads and waste time that should be put on your
• 5:42:03
  lessons. Reading stories is bad enough, but writing them is worse. But
• 5:42:07
  we're so careful to put a moral into them all. Marilla explained Anne.
• 5:42:11
  I insist upon that all the good people are rewarded and all the bad ones
• 5:42:15
  are suitably punished. I'm sure that must have a wholesome effect. The moral
• 5:42:18
  is the great thing, mister Allan says. So I read one of my
• 5:42:22
  stories to him and missus Allan, and they both agreed that the moral was
• 5:42:26
  excellent, only they laughed in the wrong places. I like it better when
• 5:42:30
  people cry. Jane and Ruby almost always cry when I come to the pathetic
• 5:42:33
  parts. Diana wrote her aunt Josephine about our club, and her Aunt Josephine
• 5:42:37
  wrote back that we were to send her some of our stories. So we
• 5:42:40
  copied out four of our very best and sent them. Miss Josephine Barry wrote
• 5:42:44
  back that she had never read anything so amusing in her life. That kind
• 5:42:47
  of puzzled us because the stories were all very pathetic and almost everybody died.
• 5:42:52
  But I'm glad Miss Barry liked them. It shows our club is doing some
• 5:42:55
  good in the world. Missus Allan says that ought to be our object in
• 5:42:57
  everything I do. Really tried to make him my object, but I forget
• 5:43:02
  so often when I'm having fun. I hope I shall be a little like
• 5:43:04
  Missus Allen when I grow up. Do you think there is any prospect of
• 5:43:07
  it? Marilla? I shouldn't say there was a great deal, was Marilla's
• 5:43:11
  encouraging answer. I'm sure Missus Allen was never such a silly, forgetful little
• 5:43:15
  girl as you are. No, but she wasn't always so good as she
• 5:43:19
  is now either, said Anne. Seriously. She told me so herself.
• 5:43:22
  That is, she said she was a dreadful mischief when she was a girl
• 5:43:26
  and was always getting into scrapes. I felt so encouraged when I heard that.
• 5:43:30
  Is it very wicked of me, Marilla, to feel encouraged when I
• 5:43:33
  hear that other people have been bad and mischievous? Missus Lynde says it is.
• 5:43:37
  Missus Lynde says she always feels shocked when she hears of any one ever
• 5:43:41
  having been naughty, no matter how small they were. Missus Lynde says she
• 5:43:45
  once heard a minister confess that when he was a boy, he stole a
• 5:43:47
  strawberry tart out of his aunt's pantry, and she never had any respect for
• 5:43:51
  that minister. Again, now, I wouldn't have felt that way. I'd
• 5:43:53
  have thought that it was real noble of him to confess it, And I'd
• 5:43:56
  have thought what an encouraging thing it would be for small boy nowadays who do
• 5:44:00
  naughty things and are sorry for them, to know that perhaps they may grow
• 5:44:03
  up to be ministers in spite of it. That's how I'd feel, Marilla.
• 5:44:07
  The way I feel at present, Anne said, Marilla, is that
• 5:44:11
  it's high time you had those dishes washed. You've taken half an hour longer
• 5:44:14
  than you should with all your chattering. Learn to work first and talk afterwards.
• 5:44:19
  End of Chapter twenty six. Chapter twenty seven, Vanity and Vexation of
• 5:44:25
  Spirit. Marilla, walking home one late April evening from an AID meeting,
• 5:44:30
  realized that the winter was over and gone with the thrill of delight that spring
• 5:44:33
  never fails to bring to the oldest and saddest, as well as to the
• 5:44:37
  youngest and merriest. Marilla was not given to subjective analysis of her thoughts and
• 5:44:41
  feelings. She probably imagined that she was thinking about the AIDS and their missionary
• 5:44:45
  box in the new carpet for the vestry room. But under these reflections was
• 5:44:48
  a harmonious consciousness of red fields smoking into pale purply mists in the declining sun
• 5:44:53
  of long, sharp pointed fur shadows falling over the meadow beyond the brook of
• 5:44:59
  still Crimson un budded maples around a mirror like wood pool of awakening in the
• 5:45:03
  world, and a stir of hidden pulses under the gray sod. The spring
• 5:45:07
  was abroad in the land, and Marilla's sober, middle aged step was lighter
• 5:45:11
  and swifter because of its deep, primal gladness. Her eyes dwelt affectionately on
• 5:45:15
  Green Gables, peering through its network of trees and reflecting the sunlight back from
• 5:45:19
  its windows in several little coruscations of glory. Marilla, as she picked her
• 5:45:25
  steps along the damp lane, thought that it was really a satisfaction to know
• 5:45:27
  that she was going home to a briskly snapping wood fire and a table nicely
• 5:45:33
  spread for tea, instead of to the cold comfort of old aid meeting evenings
• 5:45:37
  before Anne had come to Green Gables. Consequently, when Marilla entered her kitchen
• 5:45:41
  and found the fire black out with no sign of Anne anywhere, she felt
• 5:45:45
  justly disappointed and irritated. She had told Anne to be sure and have tea
• 5:45:48
  ready at five o'clock, but now she must hurry to take off her second
• 5:45:52
  best dress and prepare the meal herself against Matthew's return from plowing. I'll settle
• 5:45:56
  miss Anne when she comes home, said Marilla grimly. Ash She shaved up
• 5:46:00
  kindlings with a carving knife and with more vim than was strictly necessary. Matthew
• 5:46:04
  had come in and was waiting patiently for his tea in his corner. She's
• 5:46:08
  gadding off somewhere with Diana, writing stories or practicing dialogs or some such tom
• 5:46:14
  foolery, and never thinking once about the time or her duties. She's just
• 5:46:18
  got to be pulled up short and sudden on this sort of thing. I
• 5:46:21
  don't care if Missus Allan does say she's the brightest and sweetest child she ever
• 5:46:23
  knew. She may be bright and sweet enough, but her head is full
• 5:46:26
  of nonsense, and there's never any knowing what shape it'll break out in next.
• 5:46:30
  Just as soon as she grows out of one freak, she takes up
• 5:46:33
  with another. But there here I am saying the very thing I was so
• 5:46:37
  riled with Rachel Lynde for saying at the aid to day. I was real
• 5:46:40
  glad when Missus Allan spoke up for Anne, for if she hadn't I know,
• 5:46:44
  I'd have said something too sharp to Rachel before. Everybody. Anne's got
• 5:46:47
  plenty of false goodness knows, and far be it from me to deny it.
• 5:46:49
  But I'm bringing her up, and not Rachel Lynde, who'd pick fault
• 5:46:52
  in the Angel Gabriel himself if he lived in Avonlea just the same. Anne
• 5:46:57
  has no business to leave the house like this one. And I told her
• 5:47:00
  she was to stay home this afternoon and look after things. I must say,
• 5:47:03
  with all her faults, I never found her disobedient or untrustworthy before,
• 5:47:07
  and I'm real sorry to find her so now. Well, now I dunno,
• 5:47:11
  said Matthew, who, being patient and wise and above all hungry,
• 5:47:15
  had deemed it best to let Marilla talk her wrath out unhindered, having learned
• 5:47:19
  by experience that she got through with whatever work was on hand much quicker,
• 5:47:23
  if not delayed by untimely argument. Perhaps you're judging her too hasty, Marilla.
• 5:47:29
  Don't call her untrustworthy until you're sure she has disobeyed you. Maybe it
• 5:47:33
  can all be explained. Anne's a great hand at explaining she's not here when
• 5:47:37
  I told her to stay, retorted Marilla, I reckon, she'll find it
• 5:47:40
  hard to explain that to my satisfaction. Of course, I knew you'd take
• 5:47:44
  her part, Matthew, but I'm bringing her up, not you. It
• 5:47:48
  was dark when supper was ready, and still no sign of Anne coming hurriedly
• 5:47:52
  over the log bridge or up lover's lane. Breathless and repentant with a sense
• 5:47:56
  of neglected duties, Marilla washed and put away the dishes grimly. Then,
• 5:48:00
  wanting the candle to light her way down the cellar, she went up to
• 5:48:03
  the east gable for the one that generally stood on Anne's table, Lighting it,
• 5:48:07
  she turned around to see Anne herself lying on the bed, face downward
• 5:48:11
  among the pillows. Mercy on Us said, astonished, Marilla, have you
• 5:48:15
  been asleep? Anne? No, was the muffled reply. Are you sick,
• 5:48:18
  then demanded Marilla, anxiously, going over to the bed. Anne cowered
• 5:48:23
  deeper into her pillows, as if desirous of hiding herself forever from mortal eyes.
• 5:48:27
  No, but please, Marilla, go away and don't look at me.
• 5:48:32
  I'm in the depths of despair and I don't care who gets head in
• 5:48:34
  class or writes the best composition or sings in the Sunday School choir. Any
• 5:48:38
  more, little things like that are of no importance now, because I don't
• 5:48:42
  suppose I'll ever be able to go anywhere again. My career is closed.
• 5:48:48
  Please Marilla, go away and don't look at me. Did any one ever
• 5:48:52
  hear the like? The mystified Marilla wanted to know, Anne Shirley, whatever
• 5:48:56
  is the matter with you? What have you done? Get right up this
• 5:49:00
  minute and tell me this minute, I say, there, now, what
• 5:49:03
  is it? Anne had slid to the floor in despairing obedience. Look at
• 5:49:08
  my hair, Marilla, she whispered. Accordingly, Marilla lifted her candle and
• 5:49:12
  looked scrutinizingly at Anne's hair, flowing in heavy masses down her back. It
• 5:49:18
  certainly had a very strange appearance. Anne, surely, what have you done
• 5:49:22
  to your hair? Why? It's green? Green, it might be called,
• 5:49:27
  if there were any earthly color, a queer, dull, bronzy green,
• 5:49:32
  with streaks here and there of the original red to heighten the ghastly effect.
• 5:49:37
  Never in all her life had Marilla seen anything so grotesque as Anne's hair
• 5:49:41
  at that moment. Yes, it's green, moaned Anne. I thought nothing
• 5:49:45
  could be as bad as red hair. But now I know it's ten times
• 5:49:49
  worse to have green hair. Oh, Marilla, you little know how utterly
• 5:49:55
  wretched I am. I little know how you got into this fix, but
• 5:49:59
  I mean to find out, said Marilla. Come right down to the kitchen,
• 5:50:03
  it's too cold up here, and tell me just what you've done.
• 5:50:06
  I've been expecting something queer for some time. You haven't got into any scrape
• 5:50:10
  for over two months, and I were sure another one was due. Now,
• 5:50:12
  then, what did you do to your hair? I dyed it dyed
• 5:50:18
  it dyed your hair, Anne, surely didn't you know it was a wicked
• 5:50:22
  thing to do. Yes, I knew it was a little wicked, admitted
• 5:50:26
  Anne. But I thought it was worth while to be a little wicked to
• 5:50:30
  get rid of red hair. I counted the cost, Marilla. Besides,
• 5:50:33
  I meant to be extra good in other ways to make up for it.
• 5:50:37
  Well, said Marilla sarcastically. If I'd decided it was worth while to dye
• 5:50:41
  my hair, I'd have dyed it a decent color. At least I wouldn't
• 5:50:45
  have dyed it green. But I didn't mean to dye it green, Marilla
• 5:50:48
  protested Anne dejectedly. If I was wicked. I meant to be wicked to
• 5:50:52
  some purpose. He said, it would turn my hair a beautiful raven black.
• 5:50:57
  He positively assured me that it would. How could I doubt his word,
• 5:51:00
  Marilla, I know what it feels like to have your word doubted.
• 5:51:03
  And missus Allan says, we should never suspect any one of not telling us
• 5:51:07
  the truth unless we have proof that they're not. I have proof now.
• 5:51:11
  Green hair is proof enough for anybody. But I hadn't then, and I
• 5:51:15
  believed every word he said implicitly, Who said, who are you talking about?
• 5:51:21
  The peddler that was here this afternoon? I bought the dye from him,
• 5:51:23
  Anne Shirley, how often have I told you never to let one of
• 5:51:27
  those Italians in the house. I don't believe in encouraging them to come round
• 5:51:30
  at all. Oh, I didn't let him in the house. I remembered
• 5:51:33
  what you told me, and I went out, carefully shut the door and
• 5:51:37
  looked at his things on the step. Besides, he wasn't an Italian.
• 5:51:41
  He was a German Jew. He had a big box full of very interesting
• 5:51:45
  things, and he told me he was working hard to make enough money to
• 5:51:48
  bring his wife and children out from Germany. He spoke so feelingly about them
• 5:51:52
  that it touched my heart. I wanted to buy something from him, to
• 5:51:55
  help him in such a worthy object. Then all at once I saw the
• 5:51:57
  bottle of hair dye. The peddler said it was warranted to dye any hair
• 5:52:02
  a beautiful raven black and wouldn't wash off in a trice. I saw myself
• 5:52:06
  with beautiful raven black hair, and the temptation was irresistible. But the price
• 5:52:11
  of the bottle was seventy five cents, and I only had fifty cents left
• 5:52:14
  out of my chicken money. I think the peddler had a very kind heart,
• 5:52:18
  for he said that seeing it was me, he'd sell it for fifty
• 5:52:21
  cents, and that was just giving it away. So I bought it,
• 5:52:23
  and as soon as he had gone, I came up here and applied it
• 5:52:26
  with an old hair brush as the direction said, I used up the whole
• 5:52:30
  bottle, and oh, Marilla, when I saw the dreadful color it turned
• 5:52:33
  my hair. I repented of being wicked, i can tell you, and
• 5:52:37
  I've been repenting ever since. Well, I hope you'll repent to good purpose,
• 5:52:41
  said Marilla severely, and that you've got your eyes open to where your
• 5:52:45
  vanity has led you. Anne, Goodness knows what's to be done. I
• 5:52:48
  suppose the first thing is to give your hair a good washing and see if
• 5:52:51
  that will do any good. Accordingly, Anne washed her hair, scrubbing it
• 5:52:55
  vigorously with soap and water, but for all the difference it made, she
• 5:52:57
  might as well have been scouting its original red. The peddler had certainly spoken
• 5:53:03
  the truth when he declared that the dye wouldn't wash off. However, his
• 5:53:06
  veracity might be impeached in other respects. Oh, Marilla, what shall I
• 5:53:11
  do? Questioned Anne in tears. I can never live this down. People
• 5:53:15
  have pretty well forgotten my other mistakes, the liniment cake and setting Diana drunk
• 5:53:19
  and flying into a temper with missus Lynde. But they'll never forget this.
• 5:53:23
  They will think I'm not respectable. Oh Marilla, what a tangled web we
• 5:53:29
  weave when first we practice to deceive. That is poetry, but it is
• 5:53:32
  true. And oh how Josie Pye will laugh? Marilla, I cannot face
• 5:53:37
  Josie Pye. I am the unhappiest girl in Prince Edward Island. Anne's unhappiness
• 5:53:44
  continued for a week. During that time, she went nowhere and shampooed her
• 5:53:48
  hair every day. Diana, alone of outsiders, knew the fatal secret,
• 5:53:52
  but she promised solemnly never to tell, and it may be stated here and
• 5:53:56
  now that she kept her word. At the end of the week, Marilla
• 5:53:59
  said decidedly, it's no use, Anne, that is fast dye, if
• 5:54:03
  ever there was any your hair must be cut off. There is no other
• 5:54:06
  way. You can't go out with it looking like that. Anne's lips quivered,
• 5:54:10
  but she realized the bitter truth of Marilla's remarks with a dismal sigh.
• 5:54:14
  She went for the scissors. Please cut it off at once, Marilla,
• 5:54:18
  and have it over. Oh. I feel that my heart is broken.
• 5:54:21
  This is such an unromantic affliction. The girls in books lose their hair in
• 5:54:26
  fevers or sell it to get money for some good deed, and I'm sure
• 5:54:29
  I wouldn't mind losing my hair in some such fashion half so much. But
• 5:54:33
  there is nothing comforting and having your hair cut off because you've dyed it a
• 5:54:36
  dreadful color, is there? I'm going to weep all the time you're cutting
• 5:54:38
  it off if it won't interfere. It seems such a tragic thing. Anne
• 5:54:44
  wept then, but later on, when she went upstairs and looked in the
• 5:54:47
  glass, she was calm with despair. Marilla had done her work thoroughly,
• 5:54:52
  and it had been necessary to shingle the hair as closely as possible. The
• 5:54:55
  result was not becoming. To state the case as mildly as may be,
• 5:54:59
  Anne promptly turned her glass to the wall. I'll never never look at myself
• 5:55:03
  again until my hair grows, she exclaimed passionately. Then suddenly she right at
• 5:55:07
  the glass. Yes, I will too. I'd do penance for being wicked
• 5:55:11
  that way. I'll look at myself every time I come to my room and
• 5:55:15
  see how ugly I am, and I won't try to imagine it away either.
• 5:55:19
  I never thought I was vain about my hair, of all things,
• 5:55:22
  but now I know I was in spite of its being red, because it
• 5:55:26
  was so long and thick and curly. I expect something will happen to my
• 5:55:30
  nose next. Anne's clipped head made a sensation in school on the following Monday,
• 5:55:36
  but to her relief, nobody guessed the real reason for it, not
• 5:55:38
  even Josie Pye, who however, did not fail to inform Anne that she
• 5:55:42
  looked like a perfect scarecrow. I didn't say anything when Josie said that to
• 5:55:47
  me. Anne confided that evening to Marilla, who was lying on the sofa
• 5:55:51
  after one of her headaches, because I thought it was part of my punishment,
• 5:55:53
  and I ought to bear it patiently. It's hard to be told you
• 5:55:56
  look like a scarecrow, and I wanted to say something back, but I
• 5:56:00
  didn't. I just swept her one scornful look, and then I forgave her.
• 5:56:04
  It makes you feel very virtuous when you forgive people, doesn't it.
• 5:56:07
  I mean to devote all my energies to being good after this, and I
• 5:56:11
  shall never try to be beautiful again. Of course, it's better to be
• 5:56:15
  good, I know it is, but it's sometimes so hard to believe a
• 5:56:18
  thing, even when you know it. I do really want to be good,
• 5:56:21
  Marilla, like you and missus Allan and miss Stacy, and grow up
• 5:56:23
  to be a credit to you. Diana says, when my hair begins to
• 5:56:26
  grow, to tie a black velvet ribbon around my head with a bow at
• 5:56:30
  one side. She says, she thinks it will be very becoming. I
• 5:56:33
  will call it a snood. That sounds so romantic. But am I talking
• 5:56:37
  too much? Marilla? Does it hurt your head? My head is better
• 5:56:41
  now. It was terrible bad this afternoon. Though Those headaches of mine are
• 5:56:45
  getting worse and worse. I'll have to see a doctor about them. As
• 5:56:48
  for your chatter, I don't know that I'm minded. I've got so used
• 5:56:52
  to it, which was Marilla's way of saying that she liked to hear it,
• 5:56:57
  end of chapter twenty seven, Chapter twenty eight, An unfortunate lily Maid.
• 5:57:03
  Of course you must be Elaine, Anne, said Diana. I could
• 5:57:07
  never have the courage to float down there, nor, I said Ruby Gillis
• 5:57:11
  with a shiver. I don't mind floating down when there's two or three of
• 5:57:15
  us in the flat and we can sit up. It's fun then, But
• 5:57:18
  to lie down and pretend I was dead, I just couldn't. I'd die
• 5:57:22
  really affright. Of course it would be romantic, conceded Jane Andrews. But
• 5:57:29
  I know I couldn't keep still. I'd be popping up every minute or so
• 5:57:32
  to see where I was, and if I wasn't drifting too far out,
• 5:57:34
  and you know, Anne, that would spoil the effect. But it's so
• 5:57:38
  ridiculous to have a red headed Elaine, mourned Anne. I'm not afraid to
• 5:57:44
  float down, and I'd love to be Elaine, but it's ridiculous, just
• 5:57:47
  the same Ruby ought to be Elaine because she is so fair and has such
• 5:57:51
  lovely, long, golden hair. Elaine had all her bright hair streaming down,
• 5:57:55
  you know, and Elaine was the lily maid. Now a red haired
• 5:57:59
  person cannot be a lily maid. Your complexion is just as fair as Ruby's,
• 5:58:03
  said Diana earnestly. And your hair is ever so much darker than it
• 5:58:07
  used to be before you cut it. Oh do you really think so?
• 5:58:10
  Exclaimed Anne, flushing sensitively with delight. I've sometimes thought it was myself,
• 5:58:15
  but I never dared to ask anyone, for fear she would tell me it
• 5:58:18
  wasn't. Do you think it could be called auburn now, Diana? Yes,
• 5:58:22
  and I think it is real pretty, said Diana, looking admiringly at
• 5:58:26
  the short, silky curls that clustered over Anne's head and were held in place
• 5:58:30
  by a very jaunty black velvet ribbon and bow. They were standing on the
• 5:58:34
  bank of the pond below Orchard Slope, where a little headland fringed with birches
• 5:58:38
  ran out from the bank. At its tip was a small wooden platform built
• 5:58:42
  out into the water for the convenience of fishermen and duck hunters. Ruby and
• 5:58:47
  Jane were spending the midsummer afternoon with Diana, and Anne had come over to
• 5:58:51
  play with them. Anne and Diana had spent most of their playtime that summer
• 5:58:55
  on and about the pond. Idle Wild was a thing of the past,
• 5:58:59
  mister Bell having ruthlessly cut down the little circle of trees in his back pasture
• 5:59:02
  in the spring, Anne had sat among the stumps and wept, not without
• 5:59:06
  an eye to the romance of it. But she was speedily consoled, for
• 5:59:10
  after all, as she and Diana said, big girls of thirteen going on
• 5:59:12
  fourteen were too old for such childish amusements as play houses, and there were
• 5:59:18
  more fascinating sports to be found about the pond. It was splendid to fish
• 5:59:22
  for trout over the bridge, and the two girls learned to row themselves about
• 5:59:25
  in the little flat bottomed doory mister Barry kept for dug shooting. It was
• 5:59:29
  Anne's idea that they dramatized the lane. They had studied Tennyson's poem in school
• 5:59:33
  and the preceding winter. The Superintendent of Education having prescribed it in the English
• 5:59:37
  course for the Prince Edward Island Schools. They had analyzed and parsed it and
• 5:59:41
  torn it to pieces in general, until it was a wonder there was any
• 5:59:45
  meaning at all left in it for them. But at least the fair lily
• 5:59:48
  maid and Launcelot and Guinevere and King Arthur had become very real people to them,
• 5:59:52
  and Anne was devoured by secret regret that she had not been born in
• 5:59:56
  Camelot. Those days, she said, were so much more romantic than the
• 6:00:00
  present. Anne's plan was hailed with enthusiasm. The girls had discovered that if
• 6:00:04
  the flat were pushed off from the landing place, it would drift down with
• 6:00:07
  the current under the bridge and finally strand itself on another headland lower down,
• 6:00:12
  which ran out at a curve in the pond. They had often gone down
• 6:00:15
  like this, and nothing could be more convenient for playing a lane. Well,
• 6:00:21
  I'll be a lane, said Anne, yielding reluctantly, for although she
• 6:00:25
  would have been delighted to play the principal character, yet her artistic sense demanded
• 6:00:29
  fitness for it, and this she felt her limitations made impossible. Ruby.
• 6:00:33
  You must be King Arthur, and Jane will be Guinevere, and Diana must
• 6:00:37
  be Lancelot. But first you must be the brothers and the father. We
• 6:00:41
  can't have the old dumb servitor because there isn't room for two in the flat
• 6:00:44
  when one is lying down. We must paw the barge all its length in
• 6:00:48
  blackest samite. That old black shawl of your mother's will be just a thing,
• 6:00:51
  Diana. The black shawl having been procured, Anne spread it over the
• 6:00:56
  flat and then lay down on the bottom with closed eyes and hands folded over
• 6:01:00
  her breast. Oh she does look really dead, whispered Ruby. Gillis nervously
• 6:01:04
  watching the still white little face under the flickering shadows of the birches. It
• 6:01:10
  makes me feel frightened. Girls, do you suppose it's really right to act
• 6:01:14
  like this? Missus Lynde says that all play acting is abominably wicked. Ruby,
• 6:01:18
  you shouldn't talk about missus Lynde, said Anne severely. It spoils the
• 6:01:22
  effect, because this is hundreds of years before missus Lynde was born. Jane,
• 6:01:26
  you arrange this. It's silly for a Lane to be talking when she's
• 6:01:30
  dead. Jane rose to the occasion. Cloth of gold for coverlet there was
• 6:01:34
  none, but an old piano scarp of yellow Japanese crape was an excellent substitute.
• 6:01:40
  A white lily was not obtainable just then, but the effect of a
• 6:01:42
  tall blue iris placed in one of Anne's folded hands was all that could be
• 6:01:47
  desired. Now she's all ready, said Jane. We must kiss her quiet
• 6:01:51
  brows. And Diana, you say, sister, farewell forever. And Ruby
• 6:01:55
  you say farewell, sweet sister, both of you as sorrowfully as you possibly
• 6:01:59
  can. Anne, for goodness sake, smile a little, you know,
• 6:02:02
  a lane lay as though she smiled. That's better, Now push the flat
• 6:02:06
  off. The flat was accordingly pushed off, scraping roughly over an old embedded
• 6:02:11
  stake in the process. Diana and Jane and Ruby only waited long enough to
• 6:02:15
  see it caught in the current and headed for the bridge, before scampering up
• 6:02:18
  through the woods, across the road and down to the lower headland, where
• 6:02:22
  as Launcelot and Gwinever and the King they were to be in readiness to receive
• 6:02:26
  the lily maid. For a few minutes, Anne, drifting slowly down,
• 6:02:30
  enjoyed the romance of her situation to the full. Then something happened not at
• 6:02:34
  all romantic. The flat began to leak. In a very few moments.
• 6:02:40
  It was necessary for a Lane to scramble to her feet, pick up her
• 6:02:42
  cloth of gold coverlet and pall of blackest samite, and gaze blankly at a
• 6:02:47
  big crack at the bottom of her barge through which the water was literally pouring.
• 6:02:52
  That sharp stake at the landing had torn off the strip of batting nailed
• 6:02:55
  on the flat. Anne did not know this, but it did not take
• 6:02:57
  her long to realize that she was in a danger plight. At this rate,
• 6:03:00
  the flat would fill and sink long before it could drift to the lower
• 6:03:03
  headland, where were the oars left behind At the landing. Anne gave one
• 6:03:08
  gasping little scream which nobody ever heard. She was white to the lips,
• 6:03:14
  but she did not lose her self possession. There was one chance, just
• 6:03:18
  one. I was horribly frightened, she told Missus Allen the next day.
• 6:03:22
  And it seemed like years while the flat was drifting down to the bridge and
• 6:03:25
  the water rising in it. Every moment. I prayed Missus Allan most earnestly,
• 6:03:30
  but I didn't shut my eyes to pray, for I knew the only
• 6:03:33
  way God could save me was to let the flat float close enough to one
• 6:03:36
  of the bridge piles for me to climb up on it. You know,
• 6:03:38
  the piles are just old tree trunks, and there are lots of knots and
• 6:03:41
  old branch stubs on them. It was proper to pray, but I had
• 6:03:45
  to do my part by watching out and write. Well, I knew it.
• 6:03:48
  I just said, Dear God, please take the flat close to a
• 6:03:52
  pile, and I'll do the rest over and over again. Under such circumstances,
• 6:03:56
  you don't think much about making a flowery prayer, but mine was answered.
• 6:04:00
  For the flat bumped right into a pile for a minute, and I
• 6:04:02
  flung the scarf and the shawl over my shoulder and scrambled up on a big
• 6:04:06
  providential stub. And there I was, Missus Allen, clinging to that slippery
• 6:04:10
  old pile with no way of getting up or down. It was a very
• 6:04:14
  unromantic position, but I didn't think about that at the time. You don't
• 6:04:18
  think much about romance when you have just escaped from a watery grave. I
• 6:04:21
  said a grateful prayer at once, and then I gave all my attention to
• 6:04:25
  holding on tight, for I knew I should probably have to depend on human
• 6:04:27
  aid to get back to dry land. The flat drifted under the bridge and
• 6:04:33
  then promptly sank in mid stream. Ruby, Jane and Diana, already awaiting
• 6:04:37
  it on the lower headland, saw it disappear before their very eyes, and
• 6:04:41
  had not a doubt but that Anne had gone down with it. For a
• 6:04:45
  moment, they stood still, white as sheets, frozen with horror at the
• 6:04:48
  tragedy. Then, shrieking at the tops of their voices, they started on
• 6:04:52
  a frantic run up through the woods, never pausing as they crossed the main
• 6:04:56
  road to glance the way of the bridge. Anne, clinging desperately to her
• 6:05:00
  precarious foothold, saw their flying forms and heard their shrieks. Help would soon
• 6:05:03
  come, but meanwhile her position was a very uncomfortable one. The minutes passed
• 6:05:08
  by, each seeming an hour to the unfortunate Lily maid. Why didn't somebody
• 6:05:14
  come? Where had the girls gone? Suppose they had fainted one and all.
• 6:05:18
  Suppose nobody ever came. Suppose she grew so tired and cramped that she
• 6:05:22
  could hold on no longer. Anne looked at the wicked green depths below her,
• 6:05:26
  wavering with long oily shadows, and shivered. Her imagination began to suggest
• 6:05:30
  all manner of gruesome possibilities to her. Then, just as she thought she
• 6:05:36
  really could not endure the ache in her arms and wrists, another moment,
• 6:05:40
  Gilbert Blythe came rowing under the bridge. In Harmon Andrew's story, Gilbert glanced
• 6:05:44
  up, and, much to his amazement, beheld a little white, scornful
• 6:05:48
  face looking down upon him with big, frightened but also scornful, gray eyes.
• 6:05:52
  Anne Shirley, How on earth did you get there? He exclaimed,
• 6:05:56
  Without waiting for an answer, He pulled close to the pile and extended his
• 6:06:00
  hand. There was no help for it. Anne, clinging to Gilbert Blythe's
• 6:06:04
  hand, scrambled down into the dory, where she sat, drabbled and furious
• 6:06:08
  in the stern, with her arms full of dripping shawl and wet crape.
• 6:06:12
  It was certainly extremely difficult to be dignified under the circumstances. What has happened,
• 6:06:18
  Anne asked Gilbert, taking up his oars. We were playing, Elaine,
• 6:06:22
  explained Anne frigidly, without even looking at her rescuer, and I had
• 6:06:26
  to drift down to Camelot in the barge, I mean the flat. The
• 6:06:30
  flat began to leak, and I climbed out on the pile. The girls
• 6:06:33
  went for help. Will you be kind enough to row me to the landing?
• 6:06:37
  Gilbert obligingly rode to the landing, and Anne, disdaining assistance, sprang
• 6:06:41
  nimbly on shore. I'm very much obliged to you, she said haughtily as
• 6:06:45
  she turned away. But Gilbert had also sprung from the boat and now laid
• 6:06:48
  a detaining hand on her arm. Anne, he said, hurriedly, Look
• 6:06:52
  here, can't we be good friends? I'm awfully sorry I made fun of
• 6:06:56
  your hair that time. I didn't mean to vex you, and I only
• 6:06:59
  meant it for a joke. Besides it so long ago. I think your
• 6:07:03
  hair is awfully pretty now, honest I do. Let's be friends for a
• 6:07:07
  moment. Anne hesitated. She had an odd, newly awakened consciousness under all
• 6:07:11
  her outraged dignity, that the half shy, half eager expression in Gilbert's hazel
• 6:07:17
  eyes was something that was very good to see. Her heart gave a quick,
• 6:07:21
  queer, little beat, but the bitterness of her old grievance promptly stiffened
• 6:07:26
  up her wavering determination. That scene of two years before flashed back into a
• 6:07:30
  recollection as vividly as if it had taken place yesterday. Gilbert had called her
• 6:07:34
  carrots and had brought about her disgrace before the whole school. Her resentment,
• 6:07:38
  which to other and older people might be as laughable as its cause, was
• 6:07:42
  in no whit, allaid and softened by time. Seemingly, she hated Gilbert
• 6:07:47
  Blythe. She would never forgive him. No, she said coldly, I
• 6:07:52
  shall never be friends with you, Gilbert Blythe, and I don't want to
• 6:07:55
  be all right. Gilbert sprang into his skiff, with an angry color in
• 6:07:59
  his cheek. I'll never ask you to be friends again, Anne Shirley,
• 6:08:02
  and I don't care either. He pulled away with swift, defiant strokes,
• 6:08:07
  and Anne went up the steep, ferny little path under the maples. She
• 6:08:11
  held her head very high, but she was conscious of an odd feeling of
• 6:08:14
  regret. She almost wished she had answered Gilbert differently. Of course, he
• 6:08:18
  had insulted her terribly, but still, altogether, Anne rather thought it would
• 6:08:25
  be a relief to sit down and have a good cry. She was really
• 6:08:27
  quite unstrung for the reaction from her fright and cramped clinging was making itself felt.
• 6:08:33
  Half Way up the path, she met Jane and Diana, rushing back
• 6:08:36
  to the pond and a state narrowly removed from positive frenzy. They had found
• 6:08:40
  nobody at Orchard Slope, both mister and Missus Barry being away. Here.
• 6:08:44
  Ruby Gillis had succumbed to hysterics and was left to recover from them as best
• 6:08:48
  she might, while Jane and Diana flew through the Haunted wood and across the
• 6:08:51
  brook to Green Gables. There they had found nobody either, for Marilla had
• 6:08:55
  gone to Carmody and Matthew was making hay in the back field. Oh Anne
• 6:09:00
  gasped Diana, fairly, falling on the former's neck and weeping with relief and
• 6:09:03
  delight. Oh Anne, we thought you were drowned, and we felt like
• 6:09:08
  murderers because we had made you be Elane and Ruby. Isn't hysterics, Oh
• 6:09:15
  Anne? How did you escape? I climbed up on one of the piles,
• 6:09:18
  explained Anne wearily, and Gilbert Blyfe came along in mister Andrews's dory and
• 6:09:22
  brought me to land. Oh Anne, how splendid of him? Why it's
• 6:09:27
  so romantic, said Jane, finding breath enough for utterance at last. Of
• 6:09:32
  course you'll speak to him after this. Of course I won't, flashed Anne
• 6:09:36
  with a momentary return of her old spirit. And I don't want ever to
• 6:09:38
  hear the word romantic again, Jane andrews. I'm awfully sorry you were so
• 6:09:42
  frightened. Girls. It's all my fault. I feel sure I was born
• 6:09:47
  under an unlucky star. Everything I do gets me or my dearest friends into
• 6:09:51
  a scrape. We've gone and lost your father's flat, Diana, and I
• 6:09:55
  have a presentiment that will not be allowed to row on the pond any more.
• 6:09:59
  Ann's pres sentiment proved more trustworthy than presentiments are apt to do. Great
• 6:10:03
  was the consternation in the Burry and Cuthbert households when the events of the afternoon
• 6:10:07
  became known. Will you ever have any sense? Anne groaned Marilla. Oh
• 6:10:11
  yes, I think I will. Marilla returned Anne optimistically a good cry.
• 6:10:17
  Indulged in the grateful solitude of the east, Gable had soothed her nerves and
• 6:10:21
  restored her to her wonted cheerfulness. I think my prospects of becoming sensible are
• 6:10:25
  brighter now than ever. I don't see how, said Marilla, well explained
• 6:10:30
  Anne, I've learned a new and valuable lesson to day. Ever since I
• 6:10:33
  came to Green Gables, I've been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped
• 6:10:37
  to cure me of some great shortcoming. The affair of the amethyst brooch cured
• 6:10:41
  me of meddling with things that didn't belong to me. The haunted wood mistake
• 6:10:45
  cured me of letting my imagination run away with me. The liniment cake mistake
• 6:10:48
  cured me of carelessness, and cooking dyeing my hair cured me of vanity.
• 6:10:52
  I never think about my hair and nose now, at least very seldom,
• 6:10:56
  and to day's mistake is going to cure me of being too romantic. I
• 6:11:00
  have come to the conclusion that it is no use trying to be romantic in
• 6:11:03
  Avonlea. It was probably easy enough in towered Camelot hundreds of years ago,
• 6:11:07
  but romance is not appreciated now. I feel quite sure that you will soon
• 6:11:11
  see a great improvement in me in this respect, Marilla. I am sure.
• 6:11:15
  I hope, so, said Marilla skeptically, But Matthew who had been
• 6:11:19
  sitting mutely in his corner, laid a hand on Anne's shoulder when Marilla had
• 6:11:23
  gone out. Don't give up all your romance, Anne, he whispered,
• 6:11:26
  shyly. A little of it is a good thing, not too much,
• 6:11:30
  of course, but keep a little of it, Anne, Keep a little
• 6:11:33
  of it. End of Chapter twenty eight. Chapter twenty nine, an epoch
• 6:11:41
  in Anne's life. Anne was bringing the cows home from the back pasture by
• 6:11:45
  way of Lover's Lane. It was a September evening, and all the gaps
• 6:11:49
  and clearings in the woods were brimmed up with Ruby's sunset light. Here and
• 6:11:53
  there the lane was splashed with it, but for the most part it was
• 6:11:56
  already quite shadowy. Beneath the maples, and the spaces under the firs were
• 6:12:00
  filled with a clear, violet dusk like airy wine. The winds were out
• 6:12:04
  in their tops, and there is no sweeter music on earth than that which
• 6:12:08
  the wind makes in the fir trees. At evening. The cow swung placidly
• 6:12:12
  down the lane, and Anne followed them, dreamily, repeating aloud the battle
• 6:12:17
  canto from Marmion, which had also been part of their English course. The
• 6:12:19
  preceding winter, and which Miss Stacy had made them learn off by heart,
• 6:12:23
  and exulting in its rushing lines, in the clash of spears, in its
• 6:12:26
  imagery. When she came to the lines the stubborn spearsmen still made good their
• 6:12:33
  dark, impenetrable wood. She stopped, in ecstasy to shut her eyes,
• 6:12:36
  that she might the better fancy herself one of that heroic ring. When she
• 6:12:40
  opened them again, it was to behold Diana coming through the gate that led
• 6:12:44
  into the barry field, and looking so important that Anne instantly divine there was
• 6:12:48
  news to be told, but betrayed too eager curiosity, she would not.
• 6:12:53
  Isn't this evening just like a purple dreamed Diana. It makes me so glad
• 6:12:57
  to be alive in the morning. I always think the morning's are best,
• 6:13:00
  but when evening comes, I think it's lovelier. Still, it's a very
• 6:13:06
  fine evening, said Diana. But oh, I have such news, Anne,
• 6:13:08
  Yes you can have three guesses. Charlotte Gilliss is going to be married
• 6:13:12
  in the church after all, and missus Allan wants us to decorate it,
• 6:13:15
  cried Anne. No, Charlotte's baw won't agree to that, because nobody has
• 6:13:19
  ever been married in that church yet, and he thinks it would seem too
• 6:13:22
  much like a funeral. It's too mean, because it would be such fun.
• 6:13:26
  Guess again, Jane's mother is going to let her have a birthday party.
• 6:13:30
  Diana shook her head, her black eyes dancing with merriment. I can't
• 6:13:33
  think what it can be, said Anne in despair. Unless it's that moody
• 6:13:37
  spurgeon mac Pherson saw you home from prayer meeting last night. Did he I
• 6:13:41
  should think not, exclaimed Diana indignantly. I wouldn't be likely to boast of
• 6:13:45
  it if he did, the horrid creature. I knew you couldn't guess it.
• 6:13:48
  Mother had a letter from Aunt Josephine to day, and Aunt Josephine wants
• 6:13:52
  you and me to go to town next Tuesday and stop with her for the
• 6:13:55
  exhibition there. Oh, Diana, whispered Anne, finding out necessary to lean
• 6:14:00
  up against a maple tree for support. Do you really mean it? But
• 6:14:04
  I'm afraid Marilla won't let me go. She will say that she can't encourage
• 6:14:07
  gadding about. That was what she said last week when Jane invited me to
• 6:14:11
  go with them and their double seated Buggy to the American concert at the White
• 6:14:15
  Sands Hotel. I wanted to go, but Marilla said I'd be better at
• 6:14:18
  home learning my lessons, and so would Jane. I was bitterly disappointed,
• 6:14:22
  Diana. I felt so heart broken that I wouldn't say my prayers when I
• 6:14:26
  went to bed. But I repented of that and got up in the middle
• 6:14:29
  of the night and said them, I'll tell you, said Diana. We'll
• 6:14:32
  get mother to ask Marilla. She'll be more likely to let you go then,
• 6:14:36
  and if she does, we'll have the time of our lives. Anne,
• 6:14:38
  I've never been to an exhibition, and it's so aggravating to hear the
• 6:14:41
  other girls talking about their trips. Jane and Ruby have been twice, and
• 6:14:45
  they're going this year again. I'm not going to think about it at all
• 6:14:48
  until I know whether I can go or not, said Anne resolutely. If
• 6:14:52
  I did and them was disappointed, it would be more than I could bear.
• 6:14:56
  But in case I do go, I'm very glad my new coat will
• 6:14:57
  be ready by that time. Marilla didn't think I needed a new coat.
• 6:15:02
  She said my old one would do very well for another winter, and that
• 6:15:04
  I ought to be satisfied with having a new dress. The dress is very
• 6:15:07
  pretty, Diana navy blue, and made so fashionably. Marilla always makes my
• 6:15:12
  dresses fashionably now because she says she doesn't intend to have Matthew going to missus
• 6:15:17
  Lynde to make them. I'm so glad. It is ever so much easier
• 6:15:19
  to be good if your clothes are fashionable. At least it is easier for
• 6:15:23
  me. I suppose it doesn't make such a difference to naturally good people.
• 6:15:27
  But Matthew said, I must have a new coat. So Marilla bought a
• 6:15:30
  lovely piece of blue broadcloth, and it's being made by a real dressmaker over
• 6:15:36
  at Carmody. It's to be done Saturday night. And I'm trying not to
• 6:15:38
  imagine myself walking up the church aisle on Sunday in my new suit and cap,
• 6:15:42
  because I'm afraid it isn't right to imagine such things, but it just
• 6:15:45
  slips into my mind in spite of me. My cap is so pretty.
• 6:15:49
  Matthew bought it for me the day we were over at Carmody. It is
• 6:15:52
  one of those little blue velvet ones that are all the rage, with gold
• 6:15:56
  cord and tassels. Your new hat is elegant, Diana and so becoming.
• 6:16:00
  When I saw you come into church last Sunday, my heart swelled with pride
• 6:16:03
  to think you were my dearest friend. Do you suppose it's wrong for us
• 6:16:07
  to think so much about our clothes? Marilla says, it's very sinful,
• 6:16:10
  But it is such an interesting subject, isn't it. Marilla agreed to let
• 6:16:15
  Anne go to town, and it was arranged that mister Barry should take the
• 6:16:18
  girls in on the following Tuesday. As Charlottetown was thirty miles away and mister
• 6:16:22
  Barry wished to go and return the same day, it was necessary to make
• 6:16:26
  a very early start, but Anne counted it all joy and was up before
• 6:16:29
  sunrise on Tuesday morning. A glance from her window assured her that the day
• 6:16:33
  would be fine, for the eastern sky behind the furs of the Haunted Wood
• 6:16:37
  was all silvery and cloudless. Through the gap in the trees, a light
• 6:16:40
  was shining in the western gable of Orchard Slope, a token that Diana was
• 6:16:44
  also up. Anne was dressed by the time Matthew had the fire on and
• 6:16:48
  had the breakfast ready when Marilla came down, but for her own part was
• 6:16:51
  much too excited to eat. After breakfast, the jaunty new cap and jacket
• 6:16:55
  were donned, and Anne hastened over the brook and up through the furs to
• 6:16:57
  Orchard Slope. Mister Barry and Diana were waiting for her, and they were
• 6:17:02
  soon on the road. It was a long drive, but Anne and Diana
• 6:17:06
  enjoyed every minute of it. It was delightful to rattle along over the moist
• 6:17:08
  roads in the early red sunlight that was creeping across the shorn harvest fields.
• 6:17:14
  The air was fresh and crisp, and little smoke blue mists curled through the
• 6:17:18
  valleys and floated off from the hills. Sometimes the road went through woods where
• 6:17:22
  maples were beginning to hang out scarlet banners. Sometimes it crossed rivers on bridges
• 6:17:26
  that made Anne's flesh cringe with the old half delightful fear. Sometimes it wound
• 6:17:30
  along a harbor shore and passed by a little cluster of weather gray fishing huts.
• 6:17:36
  Again it mounted to hills, whence a far sweep of curving upland or
• 6:17:40
  misty blue sky could be seen. But wherever it went there was much of
• 6:17:44
  interest to discuss. It was almost noon when they reached town and found their
• 6:17:48
  way to Beechwood. It was quite a fine old mansion, set back from
• 6:17:52
  the street in a seclusion of green elms and branching beeches. Miss Barry met
• 6:17:56
  them at the door with a twinkle in her sharp black eyes. So you've
• 6:18:00
  come to see me at last, you, Anne girl, she said,
• 6:18:03
  Mercy child, how you have grown. You're taller than I am, I
• 6:18:06
  declare, and you're ever so much better looking than you used to be,
• 6:18:08
  too. But I dare say you know that without being told. Indeed I
• 6:18:12
  didn't, said Anne radiantly. I know I'm not so freckled as I used
• 6:18:17
  to be, so I've much to be thankful for. But I really hadn't
• 6:18:19
  dared to hope there was any other improvement. I'm so glad you think there
• 6:18:22
  is, Miss Barry. Miss Barry's house was furnished with great magnificence, As
• 6:18:27
  Anne told Marilla afterward, The two little country girls were rather abashed by the
• 6:18:32
  splendor of the parlor where Miss Barry left them when she went to see about
• 6:18:34
  dinner. Isn't it just like a palace, whispered Diana. I never was
• 6:18:40
  in Aunt Josephine's house before, and I'd no idea it was so grand.
• 6:18:44
  I just wish Julia Bell could see this. She puts on such airs about
• 6:18:48
  her mother's parlor. Velvet carpet sighed Anne luxuriously, and silk curtains. I've
• 6:18:56
  dreamed of such things, Diana, But do you know, I don't believe
• 6:18:59
  I feel very comfortable with them. After all, there are so many things
• 6:19:03
  in this room, and all so splendid that there is no scope for imagination.
• 6:19:07
  That is one consolation when you are poor. There are so many more
• 6:19:10
  things you can imagine about. Their sojourn in town was something that Anne and
• 6:19:15
  Diana dated from for years, From first to last. It was crowded with
• 6:19:18
  delights. On Wednesday, Miss Barry took them to the exhibition grounds and kept
• 6:19:22
  them there all day. It was splendid. Anne related to Marilla later on,
• 6:19:27
  I never imagined anything so interesting. I don't really know which department was
• 6:19:32
  the most interesting. I think I liked the horses and the flowers and the
• 6:19:34
  fancy work best. Josie Pye took first prize for knitted lace. I was
• 6:19:38
  real glad she did, and I was glad that I felt glad for it.
• 6:19:42
  Shows I'm improving, don't you think, Marilla? When I can rejoice
• 6:19:45
  in Josie's success. Mister Harmon Andrews took second prize for Gravenstein apples, and
• 6:19:49
  mister Bell took first prize for a pig. Diana said she thought it was
• 6:19:52
  ridiculous for a Sunday school superintendent to take a prize in pigs. But I
• 6:19:56
  don't see why, do you? She said she would always think of it
• 6:20:00
  after this, when he was praying so solemnly. Clara Louise mac Pherson took
• 6:20:03
  a prize for painting, and missus Lynde got first prize for home made butter
• 6:20:07
  and cheese. So Avonlea was pretty well represented, wasn't it. Missus Lynde
• 6:20:11
  was there that day, and I never knew how much I really liked her
• 6:20:15
  until I saw her familiar face among all those strangers. There were thousands of
• 6:20:19
  people there, Marilla. It made me feel dreadfully insignificant. And Miss Barry
• 6:20:23
  took us up to the grand stand to see the horse races. Missus Lynde
• 6:20:26
  wouldn't go. She said horse racing was an abomination, and she, being
• 6:20:30
  a church member, thought it her bound and duty to set a good example
• 6:20:33
  by staying away. But there were so many there I don't believe Missus Lynde's
• 6:20:37
  absence would ever be noticed. I don't think, though, that I ought
• 6:20:41
  to go very often to horse races because they are awfully fascinating. Diana got
• 6:20:47
  so excited that she offered to bet me ten cents that the red horse would
• 6:20:49
  win. I didn't believe he would, but I refused to bet because I
• 6:20:52
  wanted to tell Missus Allen all about everything, and I felt sure it wouldn't
• 6:20:56
  do to tell her that it's always wrong to do anything you can't tell the
• 6:21:00
  minister's wife. It's as good as an extra conscience to have a minister's wife
• 6:21:03
  for your friend. And I was very glad I didn't bet, because the
• 6:21:07
  red horse did win, and I would have lost ten cents. So you
• 6:21:10
  see that virtue was its own reward. We saw a man go up in
• 6:21:14
  a balloon. I'd love to go up in a balloon, Marilla, it
• 6:21:17
  would be simply thrilling. And we saw a man selling fortunes. You paid
• 6:21:21
  him ten cents, and a little bird picked out your fortune for you.
• 6:21:23
  Miss Barry gave Diana and me ten cents each to have our fortunes told.
• 6:21:27
  Mine was that I would marry a dark complexed man who was very wealthy,
• 6:21:32
  and I would go across water to live. I looked very carefully at all
• 6:21:34
  the dark men I saw after that, but I didn't care much for any
• 6:21:37
  of em. And anyhow, I suppose it's too early to be looking out
• 6:21:41
  for him yet. Oh, it was a never to be forgotten day,
• 6:21:45
  Marilla. I was so tired I couldn't sleep at night. Miss Barry put
• 6:21:48
  us in the spare room. According to promise, it was an elegant room,
• 6:21:52
  Marilla. But somehow sleeping in a spare room isn't what I used to
• 6:21:55
  think it was. That's the worst of growing up, and I'm beginning to
• 6:21:59
  realize it. The things you wanted so much when you were a child don't
• 6:22:02
  seem half so wonderful to you when you get them. Thursday, the girls
• 6:22:06
  had a drive in the park, and in the evening Miss Barry took them
• 6:22:08
  to a concert in the Academy of Music, where a noted Prima Donna was
• 6:22:11
  to sing to Anne. The evening was a glittering vision of delight. Oh,
• 6:22:17
  Marilla, it was beyond description. I was so excited I couldn't even
• 6:22:21
  talk, so you may know what it was like. I just sat in
• 6:22:23
  enraptured silence. Madame Salitsky was perfectly beautiful and wore white satin and diamonds,
• 6:22:30
  but when she began to sing, I never thought about anything else. Oh,
• 6:22:33
  I can't tell you how I felt, but it seemed to me that
• 6:22:37
  it could never be hard to be good any more. I felt like I
• 6:22:40
  do when I look up to the stars. Tears came into my eyes,
• 6:22:42
  but oh they were such happy tears. I was so sorry when it was
• 6:22:47
  all over, and I told Miss Berry I didn't see how I was ever
• 6:22:49
  to return to common life again. She said she thought if we went over
• 6:22:53
  to the restaurant across the street and had an ice cream, it might help
• 6:22:56
  me. That sounded so prosaic, but to my surprise, I found it
• 6:23:00
  true. The ice cream was delicious, Marilla, and it was so lovely
• 6:23:03
  and dissipated to be sitting there eating it at eleven o'clock at night. Diana
• 6:23:07
  said she believed she was born for city life. Miss Barry asked me what
• 6:23:11
  my opinion was, but I said I would have to think it over very
• 6:23:14
  seriously before I could tell her what I really thought. So I thought it
• 6:23:18
  over after I went to bed. That is the best time to think things
• 6:23:21
  out. And I came to the conclusion, Marilla, that I wasn't born
• 6:23:23
  for city life, and that I was glad of it. It's nice to
• 6:23:26
  be eating ice cream at brilliant restaurants at eleven o'clock at night once in a
• 6:23:30
  while, but as a regular thing. I'd rather be in the east gable
• 6:23:33
  at eleven, sound asleep, but kind of knowing even in my sleep that
• 6:23:38
  the stars were shining outside and that the wind was blowing in the firs across
• 6:23:41
  the brook. I told Miss Berry so at breakfast the next morning, and
• 6:23:45
  she laughed. Miss Barry generally laughed at anything I said, even when I
• 6:23:48
  said the most solemn things. I don't think I liked it, Marilla,
• 6:23:52
  because I wasn't trying to be funny. But she is a most hospitable lady
• 6:23:56
  and treated us royally. Friday broad going home time, and mister Barry drove
• 6:24:00
  in for the girls. Well, I hope you've enjoyed yourselves, said Miss
• 6:24:04
  Barry as she bade them good bye. Indeed we have, said Diana,
• 6:24:08
  and you Anne, girl, I've enjoyed every minute of the time, said
• 6:24:12
  Anne, throwing her arms impulsively about the old woman's neck and kissing her wrinkled
• 6:24:17
  cheek. Diana would never have dared to do such a thing, and felt
• 6:24:19
  rather aghast at Anne's freedom. But Miss Barry was pleased, and she stood
• 6:24:23
  on her veranda and watched the buggy out of sight. Then she went back
• 6:24:27
  into her big house with a sigh. It seemed very lonely, lacking those
• 6:24:32
  fresh, young lives. Miss Barry was a rather selfish old lady, if
• 6:24:36
  the truth must be told, and had never cared much for anybody but herself.
• 6:24:40
  She valued people only as they were of service to her or amused her.
• 6:24:44
  Anne had amused her and consequently stood high in the old lady's good graces.
• 6:24:48
  But Miss Barry found herself thinking less about Anne's quaint speeches than of her
• 6:24:52
  fresh enthusiasms, her transparent emotions, her little winning ways, and the sweetness
• 6:24:56
  of her eyes and lips. I thought Marilla Cuthbert was an old fool when
• 6:25:02
  I heard she'd adopted a girl out of an orphan asylum, she said to
• 6:25:04
  herself, But I guess she didn't make much of a mistake. After all,
• 6:25:08
  if I'd a child like Anne in the house, all the time,
• 6:25:11
  I'd be a better and happier woman. Anne and Diana found the drive home
• 6:25:15
  as pleasant as the drive in pleasanter indeed, since there was a delightful consciousness
• 6:25:18
  of home waiting at the end of it. It was sunset when they passed
• 6:25:22
  through white sands and turned into the shore road. Beyond the Avonlea Hills came
• 6:25:26
  out darkly against the saffron sky behind them. The moon was rising out of
• 6:25:30
  the sea that grew all radiant and transfigured in her light. Every little cove
• 6:25:34
  along the curving road was a marvel of dancing ripples. The waves broke with
• 6:25:38
  a soft swish on the rocks below them, and the tang of the sea
• 6:25:41
  was in the strong, fresh air. Oh but it's good to be alive
• 6:25:45
  and to be going home, breathed Anne. When she crossed the log bridge
• 6:25:49
  over the brook, the kitchen light of green Gables winked her friendly welcome back,
• 6:25:53
  and through the open door shone the hearth fire, sending out its warm
• 6:25:56
  red glow athwart the chilly autumn night. Anne ran blithely up the hill and
• 6:26:00
  into the kitchen, where a hot supper was waiting on the table. So
• 6:26:04
  you've got back, said Marilla, folding up her knitting. Yes, and
• 6:26:08
  oh, it's so good to be back, said Anne joyously. I could
• 6:26:11
  kiss everything, even to the clock. Marilla a broiled chicken. You don't
• 6:26:17
  mean to say you cooked that for me. Yes, I did, said
• 6:26:19
  Marilla. I thought you'd be hungry after such a drive and need something real
• 6:26:22
  appetizing. Hurry and take off your things and we'll have supper as soon as
• 6:26:26
  Matthew comes in. I'm glad you've got back. I must say, it's
• 6:26:30
  been fearful lonesome here without you, and I never put in four longer days.
• 6:26:34
  After supper, Anne sat before the fire between Matthew and Marilla and gave
• 6:26:37
  them a full account of her visit. I've had a splendid time, she
• 6:26:41
  concluded happily, and I feel that it marks an epoch in my life.
• 6:26:45
  But the best of it all was the coming home. End of chapter twenty
• 6:26:51
  nine, Chapter thirty, The Queen's class is organized. Marilla laid her knitting
• 6:26:56
  on her lap and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were tired,
• 6:27:00
  and she thought vaguely that she must see about having her glasses changed the next
• 6:27:03
  time she went to town, for her eyes had grown tired very often.
• 6:27:07
  Of late, it was nearly dark for the full November twilight had fallen around
• 6:27:11
  green Gables, and the only light in the kitchen came from the dancing red
• 6:27:15
  flames in the stove. Anne was curled up turk fashion on the hearth rug,
• 6:27:19
  gazing into that joyous glow where the sunshine of a hundred summers was being
• 6:27:23
  distilled from the maple cordwood. She had been reading, but her book had
• 6:27:27
  slipped to the floor, and now she was dreaming with a smile on her
• 6:27:30
  parted lips. Glittering castles in Spain were shaping themselves out of the mists and
• 6:27:36
  rainbows of her Lively. Fancy adventures wonderful and enthralling were happening to her in
• 6:27:41
  cloud land, adventures that always turned out triumphantly and never involved her in scrapes
• 6:27:45
  like those of actual life. Marilla looked at her with a tenderness that would
• 6:27:49
  never have been suffered to reveal itself in any clearer light than that soft mingling
• 6:27:53
  of fire, shine and shadow. The lesson of a love that should display
• 6:27:57
  itself easily in spoken word and oath and look was one Marilla could never learn.
• 6:28:02
  But she had learned to love this slim, gray eyed girl with an
• 6:28:04
  affection all the deeper and stronger from its very undemonstrativeness. Her love made her
• 6:28:10
  afraid of being unduly indulgent. Indeed, she had an uneasy feeling that it
• 6:28:15
  was rather sinful to set one's heart so intensely on any human creature as she
• 6:28:18
  had set hers on Anne. And perhaps she performed a sort of unconscious penance
• 6:28:22
  for this by being stricter and more critical than if the girl had been less
• 6:28:26
  dear to her. Certainly, Anne herself had no idea how Marilla loved her.
• 6:28:30
  She sometimes thought wistfully that Marilla was very hard to please and distinctly lacking
• 6:28:36
  in sympathy and understanding. But she always checked the thought reproachfully, remembering what
• 6:28:40
  she owed to Marilla, Anne said, Marilla, abruptly, Miss Stacy was
• 6:28:45
  here this afternoon when you were out with Diana. Anne came back from her
• 6:28:48
  other world with a start and a sigh. Was she, Oh, I'm
• 6:28:52
  so sorry I wasn't in Why didn't you call me, Marilla? Diana and
• 6:28:56
  I were only over in the Haunted Wood. It's lovely in the woods now,
• 6:29:00
  all the little wood things, the ferns, and the satin leaves and
• 6:29:03
  the crackerberries have gone to sleep, just as if somebody had tucked them away
• 6:29:06
  until spring under a blanket of leaves. I think it was a little gray
• 6:29:10
  fairy with a rainbow scarf that came tiptoeing along the last moonlit night and did
• 6:29:14
  it. Diana wouldn't say much about that, though Diana has never forgotten the
• 6:29:18
  scolding her mother gave her about imagining ghosts into the haunted Wood. It had
• 6:29:22
  a very bad effect on Diana's imagination. It blighted it. Missus Lynde says,
• 6:29:26
  Myrtle bell is a blighted being. I asked Ruby Gillis why Myrtle was
• 6:29:30
  blighted, and Ruby said she guessed it was because her young man had gone
• 6:29:33
  back on her. Ruby Gillis thinks of nothing but young men, and the
• 6:29:37
  older she gets, the worse she is. Young Men are all very well
• 6:29:41
  in their place, but it doesn't do to drag them into everything, does
• 6:29:44
  it. Diana and I are thinking seriously of promising each other that we will
• 6:29:48
  never marry, but be nice old maids and live together forever. Diana hasn't
• 6:29:52
  quite made up her mind, though, because she thinks perhaps it would be
• 6:29:55
  nobler to marry some wild, dashing, wicked young man and reform him.
• 6:29:59
  Diana and I talk of a great deal about serious subjects. Now, you
• 6:30:00
  know, we feel that we are so much older than we used to be
• 6:30:03
  that it isn't becoming to talk of childish matters. It's such a solemn thing
• 6:30:07
  to be almost fourteen. Marilla, Miss Stacy took all us girls who were
• 6:30:11
  in our teens down to the brook last Wednesday and talked to us about it.
• 6:30:15
  She said, we couldn't be too careful what habits we formed and what
• 6:30:18
  ideals we acquired in our teens, because by the time we were twenty,
• 6:30:21
  our characters would be developed and the foundation laid for our whole future life.
• 6:30:25
  And she said that if the foundation was shaky, we could never build anything
• 6:30:29
  really worth while on it. Diana and I talked the matter over coming home
• 6:30:33
  from school. We felt extremely solemn, Marilla, and we decided that we
• 6:30:37
  would try to be very careful, indeed, and form respectable habits and learn
• 6:30:41
  all we could and be as sensible as possible, so that by the time
• 6:30:44
  we were twenty our characters would be properly developed. It's perfectly appalling to think
• 6:30:48
  of being twenty Marilla. It sounds so fearfully old and grown up. But
• 6:30:52
  why was miss Stacy here this afternoon? That is what I want to tell
• 6:30:56
  you, Anne, if you'll ever give me a chance to get a word
• 6:30:59
  in edgewise. She was talking about you about me. Anne looked rather scared.
• 6:31:03
  Then she flushed and exclaimed, oh, I know what she was saying.
• 6:31:07
  I meant to tell you, Marilla. Honestly I did, but I
• 6:31:11
  forgot. Miss Stacy caught me reading ben Her in school yesterday afternoon, when
• 6:31:15
  I should have been studying my Canadian history. Jane Andrews lent it to me.
• 6:31:18
  I was reading it at dinner hour and I had just got to the
• 6:31:21
  Chariot race when school went in. I was simply wild to know how it
• 6:31:23
  turned out, although I felt sure ben Her must win, because they wouldn't
• 6:31:27
  be poetical justice if he didn't. So I spread the history open on my
• 6:31:30
  desk lid, and then tugged ben Her between the desk and my knee.
• 6:31:34
  I just looked as if I were studying Canadian history, you know, while
• 6:31:37
  all the while I was reveling in ben Her. I was so interested in
• 6:31:41
  it that I never noticed Miss Stacy coming down the aisle until all at once
• 6:31:45
  I just looked up and there she was, looking down at me, so
• 6:31:48
  reproachful like. I can't tell you how ashamed I felt, Marilla, especially
• 6:31:52
  when I heard Josie Pye giggling. Miss Stacy took ben her away, but
• 6:31:56
  she never said a word. Then she kept me in at recess and time.
• 6:32:00
  She said I had done very wrong in two respects. First I was
• 6:32:03
  wasting time I ought to have put on my studies, and secondly, I
• 6:32:07
  was deceiving my teacher and trying to make it appear I was reading a history
• 6:32:10
  when it was a story book instead. I had never realized until that moment,
• 6:32:14
  Marilla, that what I was doing was deceitful. I was shocked.
• 6:32:17
  I cried bitterly and asked Miss Stacy to forgive me, and I'd never do
• 6:32:19
  such a thing again. And I offered to do penance by never so much
• 6:32:22
  as looking at ben her for a whole week, not even to see how
• 6:32:26
  the chariot race turned out. But Miss Stacy said she wouldn't require that,
• 6:32:30
  and she forgave me freely. So I think it wasn't very kind of her
• 6:32:33
  to come up here to you about it. After all, Miss Stacy never
• 6:32:36
  mentioned such a thing to me, Anne, And it's only your guilty conscience
• 6:32:38
  that's the matter with you. You have no business to be taking story books
• 6:32:41
  to school. You read too many novels. Anyhow. When I was a
• 6:32:45
  girl, I wasn't so much as allowed to look at a novel. Oh,
• 6:32:48
  how can you call ben Her a novel when it's really such a religious
• 6:32:52
  book, protested Anne. Of course, it's a little too exciting to be
• 6:32:56
  proper reading for Sunday, and I only read it on week days. And
• 6:32:59
  I never read any book now unless either Miss Stacy or missus Allen thinks it
• 6:33:03
  is a proper book for a girl thirteen and three quarters to read. Miss
• 6:33:06
  Stacy made me promise that she found me reading a book one day called The
• 6:33:10
  Lurid Mystery of the Haunted Hall. It was one Ruby Gillis had lent me,
• 6:33:14
  and Oh Marilla, it was so fascinating and creepy, it just curdled
• 6:33:18
  the blood in my veins. But Miss Stacy said it was a very silly,
• 6:33:22
  unwholesome book, and she asked me not to read any more of it
• 6:33:23
  or any like it. I didn't mind promising not to read any more like
• 6:33:27
  it, but it was agonizing to give back that book without knowing how it
• 6:33:32
  turned out. But my love for Miss Stacy stood the test, and I
• 6:33:34
  did. It's really wonderful, Marilla, what you can do when you're truly
• 6:33:38
  anxious to please a certain person. Well, I guess I'll light the lamp
• 6:33:42
  and get to work, said Marilla. I see plainly that you don't want
• 6:33:45
  to hear what Miss Stacy had to say. You're more interested in the sound
• 6:33:48
  of your own tongue than in anything else. Oh, indeed, Marilla,
• 6:33:52
  I do want to hear it, cried Anne contritely. I won't say another
• 6:33:56
  word, not one. I know I talk too much, but I'm really
• 6:33:59
  trying to overcome and although I say far too much yet, if you only
• 6:34:02
  knew how many things I want to say and don't, you'd give me some
• 6:34:04
  credit for it. Please tell me, Marilla. Well, Miss Stacy wants
• 6:34:10
  to organize a class among her advanced students who mean to study for the entrance
• 6:34:14
  examination into Queenens. She intends to give them extra lessons for an hour after
• 6:34:18
  school, and she came to ask Matthew and me if we would like to
• 6:34:21
  have you join it. What do you think about it yourself? Anne,
• 6:34:23
  would you like to go to Queen's and pass for a teacher? Oh,
• 6:34:26
  Marilla. Anne straightened to her knees and clasped her hands. It's been the
• 6:34:30
  dream of my life, that is, for the last six months, ever
• 6:34:34
  since Ruby and Jane began to talk of studying for the entrance. But I
• 6:34:37
  didn't say anything about it because I supposed it would be perfectly useless. I'd
• 6:34:41
  love to be a teacher, but won't it be dreadfully expensive? Mister Andrews
• 6:34:45
  says it cost him one hundred and fifty dollars to put Prissy through, and
• 6:34:49
  Prissy wasn't a Dunson geometry. I guess you needn't worry about that part of
• 6:34:53
  it. When Matthew and I took you to bring up, we resolved we
• 6:34:56
  would do the best we could for you and give you a good education.
• 6:35:00
  I believe in a girl being fitted to earn her own living, whether she
• 6:35:03
  has to or not. You'll always have a home at Green Gables as long
• 6:35:06
  as Matthew and I are here. But nobody knows what is going to happen
• 6:35:08
  in this uncertain world, and it's just as well to be prepared, so
• 6:35:12
  you can join the Queen's class if you like. Anne, Oh, Marilla,
• 6:35:15
  thank you. Anne flung her arms round Marilla's waist and looked up earnestly
• 6:35:19
  into her face. I am extremely grateful to you and Matthew, and I'll
• 6:35:23
  study as hard as I can and do my very best to be a credit
• 6:35:26
  to you. I warn you not to expect much in geometry, but I
• 6:35:30
  think I can hold my own in anything else if I work hard. I
• 6:35:33
  dare say you'll get along well enough. Miss Stacy says you are bright and
• 6:35:37
  diligent. Not for worlds would Marilla have told Anne just what Miss Stacy had
• 6:35:41
  said about her. That would have been to pamper vanity. You needn't rush
• 6:35:45
  to any extreme of killing yourself over your books. There is no hurry.
• 6:35:49
  You won't be ready to try the entrance for a year and a half yet,
• 6:35:52
  but it's well to begin in time and be thoroughly grounded. Miss Stacy
• 6:35:56
  says, I shall take more interest than ever in my studies now, Anne
• 6:36:00
  blissfully, because I have a purpose in life. Mister Allan says everybody should
• 6:36:04
  have a purpose in life, and pursue it faithfully. Only he says,
• 6:36:07
  we must first make sure that it is a worthy purpose. I would call
• 6:36:11
  it a worthy purpose to want to be a teacher like Miss Stacy, wouldn't
• 6:36:14
  you, Marilla. I think it's a very noble profession. The Queen's Class
• 6:36:18
  was organized in due time. Gilbert Blythe Anne, Shirley Ruby, Gillis,
• 6:36:22
  Jane Andrews, Josie Pye, Charlie Sloane, and Moody Spurgeon mac Pherson joined
• 6:36:26
  it. Diana Barry did not, as her parents did not intend to send
• 6:36:30
  her to Queen's This seemed nothing short of a calamity to Anne. Never since
• 6:36:34
  the night on which Minnie May had had the croup had she and Diana been
• 6:36:37
  separated in anything. On the evening when the Queen's Class first remained in school
• 6:36:41
  for the extra lessons, and Anne saw Diana go slowly out with the others
• 6:36:45
  to walk home alone through the Birch Path and Violet Vale. It was all
• 6:36:49
  the former could do to keep her seat and her fine from rushing impulsively after
• 6:36:52
  her chum, A lump came into her throat, and she hastily retired behind
• 6:36:57
  the pages of her uplifted Latin grammar to hide the tears in her eyes.
• 6:37:02
  Not for worlds would Anne have had Gilbert Blythe or Josie Pye see those tears.
• 6:37:06
  But oh Marilla, I really felt that I had tasted the bitterness of
• 6:37:10
  death. As mister Allan said in his sermon last Sunday, when I saw
• 6:37:12
  Diana go out alone, she said mournfully. That night, I thought how
• 6:37:17
  splendid it would have been if Diana had only been going to study for the
• 6:37:19
  entrance too. But we can't have things perfect in this imperfect world. As
• 6:37:23
  missus Lynde says, missus Lynde isn't exactly a comforting person sometimes, but there's
• 6:37:30
  no doubt she says a great many very true things. And I think the
• 6:37:33
  Queen's class is going to be extremely interesting. Jane and Ruby are just going
• 6:37:37
  to study to be teachers. That is the height of their ambition. Ruby
• 6:37:41
  says she will only teach for two years after she gets through, and then
• 6:37:44
  she intends to be married. Jane says she won't devote her whole life to
• 6:37:47
  teaching and never never marry, because you are paid a salary for teaching,
• 6:37:51
  but a husband won't pay you anything. And growls if you ask for a
• 6:37:53
  share in the egg and butter money, I expect. Jane speaks from mournful
• 6:37:57
  experience for missus Lynde says that her father is a perfect old crank and meaner
• 6:38:02
  than second Skimmings. Josie Pye says she is just going to college for education's
• 6:38:06
  sake, because she won't have to earn her own living. She says,
• 6:38:08
  of course, it is different with orphans who are living on charity. They
• 6:38:11
  have to hustle. Moody Spurgeon is going to be a minister. Missus Lynde
• 6:38:17
  says he couldn't be anything else with a name like that to live up to.
• 6:38:19
  I hope it isn't wicked of me, Marilla, but really the thought
• 6:38:22
  of Moody Spurgeon being a minister makes me laugh. He's such a funny looking
• 6:38:26
  boy, with that big fat face and his little blue eyes and his ears
• 6:38:30
  sticking out like flaps. But perhaps he will be more intellectual looking when he
• 6:38:33
  grows up. Charlie Sloane says he's going to go into politics and be a
• 6:38:37
  member of Parliament, but missus Lynde says he'll never succeed at that because the
• 6:38:41
  Sloanes are all honest people, and it's only rascals that get on in politics
• 6:38:45
  nowadays. What is Gilbert Blythe going to be? Queried Marilla, seeing that
• 6:38:49
  Anne was opening her caesar. I don't happen to know what Gilbert Blythe's ambition
• 6:38:53
  in life is, if he has any, said Anne scornfully. There was
• 6:38:57
  open rivalry betwe, being Gilbert and Anne. Now, previously the rivalry had
• 6:39:02
  been rather one sided, but there was no longer any doubt that Gilbert was
• 6:39:06
  as determined to be first in class as Anne was. He was a foeman
• 6:39:08
  worthy of her steel. The other members of the class tacitly acknowledged their superiority
• 6:39:14
  and never dreamed of trying to compete with them. Since the day by the
• 6:39:18
  pond, when she had refused to listen to his plea for forgiveness, Gilbert,
• 6:39:21
  save for the aforesaid determined rivalry, had evinced no recognition whatever of the
• 6:39:25
  existence of Anne Shirley. He talked and jested with the other girls, exchanged
• 6:39:29
  books and puzzles with them, discussed lessons and plans, sometimes walked home with
• 6:39:33
  one or the other of them from prayer meeting or debating club. But Anne
• 6:39:37
  Shirley, he simply ignored, and Anne found out that it is not pleasant
• 6:39:41
  to be ignored. It was in Vain that she told herself, with a
• 6:39:44
  toss of her head, that she did not care. Deep down, in
• 6:39:47
  her wayward, feminine little heart, she knew that she did care, and
• 6:39:51
  that if she had that chance of the Lake of Shining Waters again, she
• 6:39:53
  would answer very differently, all at once, as it seemed, and to
• 6:39:57
  her secret dismay, she found that the old resentment she had cherished against him
• 6:40:02
  was gone, gone, just when she most needed its sustaining power. It
• 6:40:06
  was in Vain that she recalled every incident and emotion of that memorable occasion and
• 6:40:11
  tried to feel the old satisfying anger. That day, by the pond had
• 6:40:15
  witnessed its last spasmodic flicker, Anne realized that she had forgiven and forgotten without
• 6:40:19
  knowing it. But it was too late, and at least neither Gilbert nor
• 6:40:25
  anybody else, not even Diana, should ever suspect how sorry she was,
• 6:40:29
  and how much she wished she hadn't been so proud and horrid. She determined
• 6:40:33
  to shroud her feelings in deepest oblivion. And it may be stated here and
• 6:40:37
  now that she did it so successfully that Gilbert, who possibly was not quite
• 6:40:41
  so indifferent as he seemed, could not console himself with any belief that Anne
• 6:40:45
  felt his retaliatory scorn. The only poor comfort he had was that she snubbed
• 6:40:51
  Charlie Sloane unmercifully, continually and undeservedly. Otherwise, the winter passed away in
• 6:40:56
  a round of pleasant duties and studies. For Anne, the days slipped by
• 6:41:00
  like golden beads on the necklace of the year. She was happy, eager,
• 6:41:04
  interested. There were lessons to be learned, and honor to be won,
• 6:41:08
  delightful books to be read, new pieces to be practiced for the Sunday
• 6:41:11
  school choir, pleasant Saturday afternoons at the mats with Missus Allen. And then,
• 6:41:17
  almost before Anne realized it, spring had come again to Green Gables,
• 6:41:19
  and all the world was a bloom. Once more, studies palled just to
• 6:41:23
  weep it. Then the Queen's class left behind in school while the others scattered
• 6:41:27
  to green lanes and leafy woodcuts and meadow by ways, looked wistfully out of
• 6:41:33
  the windows, and discovered that Latin verbs and French exercises had somehow lost the
• 6:41:37
  tang and zest they had possessed in the crisp winter months. Even Anne and
• 6:41:41
  Gilbert lagged and grew indifferent. Teacher and taught were alike glad when the term
• 6:41:45
  was ended, and the glad vacation days stretched Rosalie before them. But you've
• 6:41:49
  done good work this past year, miss Stacy told them on the last evening,
• 6:41:53
  and you deserve a good jolly vacation, have the best time you can
• 6:41:57
  in the out of door world, and lay in a good stock of health
• 6:42:00
  and vitality and ambition to carry you through the next year. It will be
• 6:42:04
  the tug of war, you know, the last year before the entrance.
• 6:42:08
  Are you going to be back next year, miss Stacy asked Josie Pye.
• 6:42:12
  Josie Pye never scrupled to ask questions in this instance, the rest of the
• 6:42:17
  class felt grateful to her. None of them would have dared to ask it
• 6:42:19
  of Miss Stacy, but all wanted to, for there had been alarming rumors
• 6:42:23
  running at large through the school for some time that Miss Stacy was not coming
• 6:42:27
  back the next year, that she had been offered a position in the grade
• 6:42:30
  school of her own home district and meant to accept the Queen's class listened in
• 6:42:34
  breathless suspense for her answer. Yes, I think I will, said miss
• 6:42:38
  Stacy. I thought of taking another school, but I have decided to come
• 6:42:42
  back to Avonlea to tell the truth. I've grown so interested in my pupils
• 6:42:47
  here that I've found I couldn't leave them, so I'll stay and see you
• 6:42:48
  through Hurrah, said Moody Spurgeon. Moody Spurgeon had never been so carried away
• 6:42:55
  by his feelings before, and he blushed uncomfortably every time he thought about it.
• 6:42:59
  For a week. Oh, I'm so glad, said Anne with shining
• 6:43:02
  eyes. Dear miss Stacy, it would be perfectly dreadful if you didn't come
• 6:43:06
  back. I don't believe I could have the heart to go on with my
• 6:43:08
  studies at all if another teacher came here. When Anne got home that night,
• 6:43:11
  she stacked all her text books away in an old trunk in the attic,
• 6:43:15
  locked it, and threw the key into the blanket box. I'm not
• 6:43:18
  even going to look at a school book in vacation, she told Marilla.
• 6:43:21
  I've studied as hard all the term as I possibly could, and I've pored
• 6:43:25
  over that geometry until I know every proposition in the first book off by heart,
• 6:43:29
  even when the letters are changed. I just feel tired of everything sensible,
• 6:43:33
  and I'm going to let my imagination run riot for the summer. Oh
• 6:43:37
  you needn't be alarmed, Marilla. I'll only let it run riot within reasonable
• 6:43:41
  limits. But I want to have a real good jolly time this summer.
• 6:43:45
  For maybe it's the last summer I'll be a little girl. Missus Lynde says
• 6:43:48
  that if I keep stretching out next year as I've done this, I'll have
• 6:43:51
  to put on longer skirts. She says, I'm all running to legs and
• 6:43:55
  eyes, and when I put on longer skirts, I shall feel that I
• 6:43:57
  have to live up to them and be very dignant. It won't even do
• 6:44:00
  to believe in fairies, then, I'm afraid. So I'm going to believe
• 6:44:03
  in them with my whole heart. This summer. I think we're going to
• 6:44:07
  have a very gay vacation. Ruby Gillis is going to have a birthday party
• 6:44:11
  soon. And there's the Sunday School picnic and the Missionary concert next month.
• 6:44:15
  And mister Barry says that some evening he'll take Diana and me over to the
• 6:44:18
  White Sands Hotel and have dinner there. They have dinner there in the evening.
• 6:44:22
  You know. Jane Andrews was over once last summer, and she says
• 6:44:26
  it was a dazzling sight to see the electric lights and the flowers and all
• 6:44:29
  the lady guests in such beautiful dresses. Jane says it was her first glimpse
• 6:44:33
  into high life and she'll never forget it to her dying day. Missus Lynde
• 6:44:37
  came up the next afternoon to find out why Marilla had not been at the
• 6:44:41
  AID meeting on Thursday. When Marilla was not at AID meetings, people knew
• 6:44:45
  there was something wrong at Green Gables. Matthew had a bad spell with his
• 6:44:48
  heart Thursday, Marilla explained, and I didn't feel like leaving him. Oh
• 6:44:52
  yes, he's all right again now, but he takes them spells oftener than
• 6:44:56
  he used to, and I'm anxious about him. The doctor says he must
• 6:44:59
  be care to avoid excitement. That's easy enough for Matthew doesn't go about looking
• 6:45:03
  for excitement by any means, and never did. But he's not to do
• 6:45:07
  any heavy work either. And you might as well tell Matthew not to breathe
• 6:45:10
  as not to work, Come and lay off your things, Rachel, you'll
• 6:45:12
  stay to tea. Well, seeing you're so pressing, perhaps I might as
• 6:45:17
  well stay, said missus Rachel, who had not the slightest intention of doing
• 6:45:19
  anything else. Missus Rachel and Marilla sat comfortably in the parlor while Anne got
• 6:45:25
  the tea and made hot biscuits that were light and white enough to defy even
• 6:45:27
  missus Rachel's criticism. I must say Anne has turned out a real smart girl,
• 6:45:33
  admitted missus Rachel, as Marilla accompanied her to the end of the lane
• 6:45:36
  at sunset. She must be a great help to you, she is,
• 6:45:40
  said Marilla. And she's real steady and reliable. Now. I used to
• 6:45:44
  be afraid she'd never get over her feather brained ways, but she has,
• 6:45:47
  and I wouldn't be afraid to trust her in anything now. I never would
• 6:45:51
  have thought she'd have turned out so well that first day I was here,
• 6:45:52
  three years ago, said missus Rachel. Lawful heart. Shall I ever forget
• 6:45:56
  that tantrum of hers? When I went home that night, I says to
• 6:46:00
  Thomas, says I mark my words, Thomas. Marilla Cuthbert'll live to rue
• 6:46:04
  the step she's took. But I was mistaken, and I'm real glad of
• 6:46:07
  it. I ain't one of those kind of people Marilla's can never be brought
• 6:46:11
  to own up that they've made a mistake. No, that never was my
• 6:46:14
  way, Thank goodness. I did make a mistake in judging Anne, but
• 6:46:18
  it warn't no wonder for an otter, unexpected or witch of a child.
• 6:46:21
  There never was in this world, that's what. There was, no cipherin
• 6:46:23
  her out by the rules that worked with other children. It's nothing short of
• 6:46:27
  wonderful how she's improved these three years, but especially in looks. She's a
• 6:46:32
  real pretty girl, got to be, though I can't say I'm overly partial
• 6:46:34
  to that pale, big eyed style myself. I like more snap and color,
• 6:46:38
  like Diana Barry has or Ruby Gillis. Ruby Gillis's looks are real showy.
• 6:46:44
  But somehow I don't know how it is. But when Anne and them
• 6:46:47
  are together, though she ain't half as handsome, she makes them look kind
• 6:46:51
  of common and overdone, something like them white June Lily, she calls Narcissus
• 6:46:56
  alongside the big red peonies. That's what. End of chapter thirty Chapter thirty
• 6:47:03
  one, where the brook and River meet, Anne had her good summer and
• 6:47:07
  enjoyed it wholeheartedly. She and Diana fairly lived outdoors, reveling in all the
• 6:47:11
  delights that Lovers Lane and the Dryat's Bubble and Willowmere and Victoria Island afforded.
• 6:47:17
  Marilla offered no objections to Anne's gipsyinges. The Spencervale doctor who had come the
• 6:47:21
  night Minnie May had the croup, met Anne at the house of a patient
• 6:47:23
  one afternoon early in vacation, looked her over sharply, screwed up his mouth,
• 6:47:27
  shook his head, and sent a message to Marilla Cuthbert by another person.
• 6:47:32
  It was keep that red headed girl of yours in the open air all
• 6:47:34
  summer, and don't let her read books until she gets more spring into her
• 6:47:37
  step. This message frightened Marilla wholesomely. She read Anne's death warrant by consumption
• 6:47:44
  in it unless it was scrupulously obeyed. As a result, Anne had the
• 6:47:47
  golden summer of her life, as far as freedom and frolic went. She
• 6:47:51
  walked, rode, buried, and dreamed to her heart's content, And when
• 6:47:53
  September came, she was bright eyed and alert, with a step that would
• 6:47:56
  have satisfied the Spencerville doctor and a art full of ambition and zest. Once
• 6:48:00
  more, I feel just like studying with might and main, she declared,
• 6:48:04
  as she brought her books down from the attic. Oh, you good old
• 6:48:07
  friends, I'm glad to see your honest faces once more. Yes, even
• 6:48:11
  you geometry. I've had a perfectly beautiful summer, Marilla, and now I'm
• 6:48:15
  rejoicing as a strong man to run a race, as mister Allan said last
• 6:48:18
  Sunday. Doesn't mister Allan preach magnificent sermons? Missus Lynde says, he is
• 6:48:23
  improving every day, and the first thing we know, some city church will
• 6:48:26
  gobble him up, and then we'll be left and have to turn to and
• 6:48:30
  break in another green preacher. But I don't see the use of meeting trouble
• 6:48:33
  half way, do you, Marilla? I think it would be better just
• 6:48:36
  to enjoy mister Allen while we have him. If I were a man,
• 6:48:38
  I think i'd be a minister. They can have such an influence for good
• 6:48:41
  if their theology is sound, and it must be thrilling to preach splendid sermons
• 6:48:45
  and stir your hearer's hearts. Why can't women be ministers? Marilla. I
• 6:48:51
  asked missus Lynde that, and she was shocked and said it would be a
• 6:48:52
  scandalous thing. She said there might be female ministers in the States, and
• 6:48:56
  she believed there was, but thank goodness, we hadn't got to that stage
• 6:49:00
  in Canada yet, and she hoped we never would. But I don't see
• 6:49:03
  why I think women would make splendid ministers. When there is a social to
• 6:49:07
  be got up, or a church tea or anything else to raise money,
• 6:49:10
  the women have to turn to and do the work. I'm sure missus Lynde
• 6:49:12
  can pray every bit as well as Superintendent Bell, and I've no doubt she
• 6:49:15
  could preach too, with a little practice. Yes, I believe she could,
• 6:49:19
  said Marilla dryly. She does plenty of unofficial preaching. As it is,
• 6:49:23
  nobody has much of a chance to go wrong in Avonlea with Rachel to
• 6:49:26
  oversee them, Marilla said Anne in a burst of confidence. I want to
• 6:49:32
  tell you something and ask you what you think about it. It has worried
• 6:49:34
  me terribly on Sunday afternoons, that is when I think, especially about such
• 6:49:38
  matters. I do really want to be good and when I'm with you or
• 6:49:42
  missus Allan or miss Stacy. I want it more than ever, and I
• 6:49:45
  want to do just what would please you and what you would approve of.
• 6:49:48
  But mostly when I'm with missus Lynde, I feel desperately wicked, and as
• 6:49:52
  if I wanted to go and do the very thing she tells me I oughtn't
• 6:49:55
  to do. I feel irresistibly tempted to do it. Now, what do
• 6:49:59
  you think I think is the reason I feel like that? Do you think
• 6:50:02
  it's because I'm really bad and I'm regenerate? Marilla looked dubious for a moment,
• 6:50:07
  then she laughed, if you are, I guess I am too,
• 6:50:10
  Anne, for Rachel often has that very effect on me. I sometimes think
• 6:50:14
  she'd have more of an influence for good, as you say yourself, if
• 6:50:17
  she didn't keep nagging people to do right. There should have been a special
• 6:50:21
  commandment against nagging. But there I shouldn't talk. So Rachel is a good
• 6:50:25
  Christian woman and she means well. There isn't a kinder soul in Avonlea,
• 6:50:29
  and she never shirks her share of work. I'm very glad you feel the
• 6:50:32
  same, said Anne decidedly. It's so encouraging I shan't worry so much over
• 6:50:37
  that after this, But I dare say there'll be other things to worry me.
• 6:50:40
  They keep coming up you all the time, things to perplex you.
• 6:50:42
  You know, you settle one question and there's another right after. There are
• 6:50:47
  so many things to be thought over and decided when you're beginning to grow up.
• 6:50:51
  It keeps me busy all the time thinking them over and deciding what is
• 6:50:53
  right. It's a serious thing to grow up, isn't it, Marilla.
• 6:50:56
  But when I have such good friends as you and matth You and missus Allan
• 6:51:00
  and miss Stacy, I ought to grow up successfully, and I'm sure it
• 6:51:03
  will be my own fault if I don't. I feel it's a great responsibility
• 6:51:07
  because I have only the one chance. If I don't grow up right,
• 6:51:10
  I can't go back and begin over again. I've grown two winches this summer,
• 6:51:14
  Marilla. Mister Gillis measured me at Ruby's party. I'm so glad you
• 6:51:18
  made my new dresses longer. That dark green one is so pretty, and
• 6:51:22
  it was sweet of you to put on the flounce. Of course, I
• 6:51:23
  know it wasn't really necessary, but flounces are so stylish. This fall and
• 6:51:27
  Josie Pye has flounces on all her dresses. I know I'll be able to
• 6:51:32
  study better because of mine. I shall have such a comfortable feeling deep down
• 6:51:34
  in my mind about that flounce. It's worth something to have, that,
• 6:51:38
  admitted Marilla. Miss Stacy came back to Avonlea School and found all her pupils
• 6:51:44
  eager for work once more. Especially did the Queen's class gird up their loins
• 6:51:48
  for the fray, for at the end of the coming year, dimly shadowing
• 6:51:51
  their pathway already loomed up that fateful thing known as the entrance, at the
• 6:51:55
  thought of which one and all felt their hearts sink into their very shoes.
• 6:51:59
  Suppose it did not pass, that thought was doomed to haunt Anne through the
• 6:52:03
  waking hours of that winter Sunday afternoons, inclusive to the almost entire exclusion of
• 6:52:07
  moral and theological problems. When Anne had bad dreams, she found herself staring
• 6:52:11
  miserably at pass lists of the entrance exams, where Gilbert Blythe's name was blazoned
• 6:52:15
  at the top, and in which hers did not appear at all. But
• 6:52:18
  it was a jolly, busy, happy, swift flying winter schoolwork was as
• 6:52:22
  interesting class rivalry as absorbing as of yore. New worlds of thought, feeling,
• 6:52:27
  and ambition, Fresh fascinating fields of unexplored knowledge seemed to be opening out
• 6:52:33
  before Anne's eager eyes. Hills peeped or Hill, and Alps on Alps arose.
• 6:52:37
  Much of all this was due to Miss Stacy's tactful, careful, broad
• 6:52:41
  minded guidance. She led her class to think and explore and discover for themselves,
• 6:52:45
  and encouraged straying from the old beaten paths to a degree that quite shocked
• 6:52:48
  missus Lynde and the school trustees, who viewed all innovations on established methods rather
• 6:52:53
  dubiously. Apart from her studies, Anne expanded socially for Marilla, Mindful of
• 6:52:59
  the spencer Doctor's dictum, no longer vetoed occasional outings. The debating club flourished
• 6:53:03
  and gave several concerts. There were one or two parties, almost verging on
• 6:53:07
  grown up affairs. There were sleigh drives and skating frolics galore. Between times.
• 6:53:12
  Anne grew shooting up so rapidly that Marilla was astonished one day when they
• 6:53:17
  were standing side by side to find that the girl was taller than herself.
• 6:53:21
  Why Anne, how you've grown, she said, almost unbelievingly. A sigh
• 6:53:25
  followed on the words. Marilla felt a queer regret over Anne's inches. The
• 6:53:30
  child she had learned till love had vanished somehow, and here was this tall,
• 6:53:33
  serious eyed girl of fifteen, with the thoughtful brows and the proudly poised
• 6:53:37
  little head in her place. Marilla loved the girl as much as she had
• 6:53:41
  loved the child, but she was conscious of a queer, sorrowful sense of
• 6:53:45
  loss. And that night, when Anne had gone to prayer meeting with Diana,
• 6:53:48
  Marilla sat alone in the wintry twilight and indulged in the weakness of a
• 6:53:52
  cry. Matthew, coming in with a lantern, caught her at it and
• 6:53:55
  gazed at her in such consternation that Marilla had to laugh through her tears.
• 6:54:00
  I was thinking about Anne, she explained. She's got to be such a
• 6:54:03
  big girl, and she'll probably be away from us next winter. I'll miss
• 6:54:07
  her terrible. She'll be able to come home, often, comforted Matthew,
• 6:54:11
  to whom Anne was as yet and always would be, the little eager girl
• 6:54:15
  he had brought home from Bright River on that June evening, four years before
• 6:54:18
  the Branch railroad will be built to Carmody. By that time, it won't
• 6:54:22
  be the same as having her here all the time, sighed Marilla, gloomily,
• 6:54:25
  determined to enjoy her luxury of grief uncomforted. But there men can't understand
• 6:54:30
  these things. There were other changes in Anne, no less real than the
• 6:54:34
  physical change. For one thing, she became much quieter. Perhaps she thought
• 6:54:40
  all the more, and dreamed as much as ever, but she certainly talked
• 6:54:42
  less. Marilla noticed and commented on this. Also, you don't chatter half
• 6:54:47
  as much as used to, Anne, nor use half as many big words.
• 6:54:49
  What has come over you? Anne colored and laughed a little as she
• 6:54:53
  dropped her book and looked dreamily out of the window, where big, fat
• 6:54:56
  red buds were bursting out on the creeper and response to the lure of the
• 6:55:00
  spring sunshine. I don't know. I don't want to talk as much,
• 6:55:03
  she said, denting her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger. It's nicer to think
• 6:55:08
  dear pretty thoughts and keep them in one's heart like treasures. I don't like
• 6:55:12
  to have them laughed at or wondered over. And somehow I don't want to
• 6:55:17
  use big words any more. It's almost a pity, isn't it, now
• 6:55:19
  that I'm really growing big enough to say them if I did want to.
• 6:55:22
  It's fun to be almost grown up in some ways, but it's not the
• 6:55:26
  kind of fun I expected, Marilla. There's so much to learn and do
• 6:55:29
  and think that there isn't time for big words. Besides, Miss Stacy says
• 6:55:33
  the short ones are much stronger and better. She makes us write all our
• 6:55:37
  essays as simply as possible. It was hard at first. I was so
• 6:55:40
  used to crowding in all the fine big words I could think of, and
• 6:55:44
  I thought of any number of them. But I've got used to it now,
• 6:55:45
  and I see it's so much better. What has become of your story
• 6:55:49
  club? I haven't heard you speak of it for a long time. The
• 6:55:52
  story club isn't in existence any longer. We hadn't time for it, and
• 6:55:56
  anyhow, I think we had got tired of it. It was silly to
• 6:55:59
  be writing about love and murder and elopements and mysteries. Miss Stacy sometimes has
• 6:56:03
  us write a story for training and composition, but she won't let us write
• 6:56:07
  anything but what might happen in Avonlea in our own lives, and she criticizes
• 6:56:10
  it very sharply, and makes us criticize our own too. I never thought
• 6:56:14
  my compositions had so many faults until I began to look for them myself.
• 6:56:18
  I felt so ashamed. I wanted to give up altogether. But Miss Stacy
• 6:56:21
  said I could learn to write well if I only trained myself to be my
• 6:56:23
  own severest critic, And so I am trying to. You've only got two
• 6:56:27
  months before the entrance, said Marilla. Do you think you'll be able to
• 6:56:30
  get through? Anne shivered. I don't know. Sometimes I think I'll be
• 6:56:36
  all right, and then I get horribly afraid. We've studied hard, and
• 6:56:38
  Miss Stacy has drilled us thoroughly, but we mayn't get through for all that,
• 6:56:42
  we've each got a stumbling block. Mine is geometry, of course,
• 6:56:47
  and Jane's is Latin and Ruby and Charley's is algebra, and Josie's arithmetic.
• 6:56:51
  Moody Spurgeon says he feels it in his bones that he is going to fail
• 6:56:53
  in English history. Miss Stacy is going to give us examinations in June,
• 6:56:57
  just as hard as we'll have at the entrance. Said Marcus, just as
• 6:57:00
  strictly, so we'll have some idea. I wish it was all over,
• 6:57:03
  Marilla. It haunts me sometimes I wake up in the night and wonder what
• 6:57:07
  I'll do if I don't pass. Why go to school next year and try
• 6:57:10
  again, said Marilla unconcernedly. Oh, I don't believe I'd have the heart
• 6:57:14
  for it. It would be such a disgrace to fail, especially if guilt.
• 6:57:18
  If the others passed, and I get so nervous in an examination that
• 6:57:22
  I'm likely to make a mess of it. I wish I had nerves like
• 6:57:25
  Jane Andrews. Nothing rattles her. Anne sighed, and, dragging her eyes
• 6:57:30
  from the witcheries of the spring world, the beckoning day of breeze and blue
• 6:57:33
  and the green things unspringing in the garden, buried herself resolutely in her book.
• 6:57:37
  There would be other springs, but if she did not succeed in passing
• 6:57:41
  the entrance, Anne felt convinced that she would never recover sufficiently to enjoy them.
• 6:57:47
  End of chapter thirty one, Chapter thirty two, The past list is
• 6:57:52
  out. With the end of June came the close of the term and the
• 6:57:55
  close of Miss Stacy's rule in Avonlea School. Anne and Diana walked home that
• 6:58:00
  evening feeling very sober. Indeed, red eyes and damp handkerchiefs bore convincing testimony
• 6:58:04
  to the fact that Miss Stacy's farewell words must have been quite as touching as
• 6:58:07
  mister Phillips had been under similar circumstances three years before. Diana looked back at
• 6:58:12
  the schoolhouse from the foot of the spruce hill and sighed deeply. It does
• 6:58:17
  seem as if it was the end of everything, doesn't it, She said
• 6:58:19
  dismally. You oughtn't to feel half as badly as I do, said Anne,
• 6:58:23
  hunting vainly for a dry spot on her handkerchief. You'll be back again
• 6:58:26
  next winter. But I suppose I've left the dear old school forever. If
• 6:58:30
  I have good luck that is, it won't be a bit the same.
• 6:58:34
  Miss Stacy won't be there, nor you, nor Jane nor Ruby. Probably
• 6:58:38
  I shall have to sit all alone, for I couldn't bear to have another
• 6:58:41
  desk mate after you. Oh we have had jolly times, haven't we,
• 6:58:45
  Diana. It's dreadful to think they're all over. Two big tears bowl down
• 6:58:49
  by Diana's nose. If you would stop crying, I could, said Anne
• 6:58:53
  imploringly. Just as soon as I put away my hanky, I see you
• 6:58:57
  brimming up, and that starts me off again. As missus Lynde says,
• 6:59:00
  if you can't be cheerful, be as cheerful as you can. After all,
• 6:59:04
  I dare say I'll be back next year. This is one of the
• 6:59:07
  times I know I'm not going to pass. They're getting alarmingly frequent. Why
• 6:59:11
  you came out splendidly in the exams, Miss Stacy gave yes, But those
• 6:59:15
  exams didn't make me nervous. When I think of the real thing. You
• 6:59:18
  can't imagine what a horrid, cold, fluttery feeling comes around my heart.
• 6:59:22
  And then my number is thirteen, and Josie Pye says it's so unlucky.
• 6:59:26
  I am not superstitious, and I know it can make no difference, but
• 6:59:30
  I still wish it wasn't thirteen. I do wish I was going in with
• 6:59:33
  you, said Diana. Wouldn't we have a perfectly elegant time? But I
• 6:59:37
  suppose you'll have to cram in the evenings. No, Miss Stacy has made
• 6:59:41
  us promise not to open a book at all, She says, it would
• 6:59:45
  only tire and confuse us. And we are to go out walking and not
• 6:59:47
  think about the exams at all, and go to bed early. It's good
• 6:59:49
  advice, but I expect it will be hard to follow. Good advice is
• 6:59:52
  apt to be. I think Prissy Andrews told me that she sat up half
• 6:59:56
  the night every night of her entrance week and crammed for dear life, and
• 7:00:00
  I had determined to sit up at least as long as she did. It
• 7:00:03
  was so kind of your aunt Josephine to ask me to stay at Beechwood while
• 7:00:07
  I'm in town. You'll write to me while you're in won't you. I'll
• 7:00:10
  write Tuesday. I didn't tell you how the first day goes, promised Anne,
• 7:00:14
  I'll be haunting the post office Wednesday, vowed Diana. Anne went to
• 7:00:18
  town the following Monday, and on Wednesday, Diana haunted the post office as
• 7:00:22
  agreed, and got her letter. Dearest Diana wrote, Anne. Here it
• 7:00:26
  is Tuesday night, and I'm writing this in the library at Beechwood. Last
• 7:00:30
  night I was horribly lonesome, all alone in my room and wished so much
• 7:00:33
  you were with me. I couldn't cram because I'd promised Miss Stacy not to,
• 7:00:37
  but it was as hard to keep from opening my history as it used
• 7:00:40
  to Beef could keep from reading a story before my lessons were learned. This
• 7:00:44
  morning, Miss Stacy came for me and we went to the academy, calling
• 7:00:47
  for Jane and Ruby and Josie. On our way, Ruby asked me to
• 7:00:49
  feel her hands, and they were as cold as ice. Josie said,
• 7:00:52
  I looked as if I hadn't slept a wink, and she didn't believe I
• 7:00:56
  was strong enough to stand the grind of the teacher's course. Even if I
• 7:00:59
  did get through, there are times and seasons, even yet, when I
• 7:01:02
  don't feel that I've made any great headway in learning to like Josie Pye.
• 7:01:06
  When we reached the academy, there were scores of students there from all over
• 7:01:08
  the island. The first person we saw was Moody Spurgeon, sitting on the
• 7:01:11
  steps and muttering away to himself. Jane asked him what on earth he was
• 7:01:15
  doing, and he said he was repeating the multiplication table over and over to
• 7:01:18
  steady his nerves, and for pity's sake, not to interrupt him, because
• 7:01:22
  if he stopped for a moment, he got frightened and forgot everything he ever
• 7:01:23
  knew, But the multiplication table kept all his facts firmly in their proper place.
• 7:01:30
  When we were assigned to our rooms, Miss Stacy had to leave us.
• 7:01:33
  Jane and I sat together, and Jane was so composed that I envied
• 7:01:36
  her. No need of the multiplication table for good, steady, sensible Jane.
• 7:01:40
  I wondered if I looked as I felt, and if they could hear
• 7:01:41
  my heart thumping clear across the room. Then a man came in and began
• 7:01:45
  distributing the English examination sheets. My hands grew cold then, and my head
• 7:01:49
  fairly whirled around as I picked it up. Just one awful moment, Diana,
• 7:01:55
  I felt exactly as I did four years ago when I asked Marilla if
• 7:01:57
  I might stay at Green Gables. And then everything cleared up in my mind,
• 7:02:00
  and my heart began beating again. I forgot to say that it had
• 7:02:03
  stopped altogether, for I knew I could do something with that paper anyhow.
• 7:02:07
  At noon we went home for dinner, and then back again for history in
• 7:02:11
  the afternoon. The history was a pretty hard paper, and I got dreadfully
• 7:02:15
  mixed up in the dates. Still, I think I did fairly well to
• 7:02:18
  day, but oh Diana, tomorrow the geometry exam comes off, and when
• 7:02:21
  I think of it, it takes every bit of determination I possessed to keep
• 7:02:23
  from opening my euclid. If I thought the multiplication table would help me any
• 7:02:27
  I would recite it from now till to morrow morning. I went down to
• 7:02:30
  see the other girls this evening. On my way I met Moody Spurgeon,
• 7:02:33
  wandering distractedly around. He said he knew he had failed in history, and
• 7:02:37
  he was born to be a disappointment to his parents, and he was going
• 7:02:41
  home on the morning train, and it would be easier to be a carpenter
• 7:02:44
  than a minister. Anyhow, I cheered him up and persuaded him to stay
• 7:02:47
  to the inn, because it would be unfair to Miss Stacy if he didn't.
• 7:02:49
  Sometimes I have wished I was born a boy, But when I see
• 7:02:52
  Moody Spurgeon, I'm always glad I'm a girl and not. His sister Ruby
• 7:02:56
  was in hysterics when I reached their boarding house. She had just discover of
• 7:03:00
  a fearful mistake she had made in her English paper. When she recovered,
• 7:03:03
  we went uptown and had an ice cream. How we wish you had been
• 7:03:06
  with us, Oh, Diana, if only the geometry examination were over.
• 7:03:11
  But there, as missus Lynde would say, the sun will go on rising
• 7:03:14
  and setting whether I fail in geometry or not. That is true, but
• 7:03:17
  not especially comforting. I think I'd rather it didn't go on if I failed,
• 7:03:22
  yours devotedly Anne. The geometry examination and all the others were over in
• 7:03:26
  due time, and Anne arrived home on Friday evening, rather tired, but
• 7:03:30
  with an air of chastened triumph about her. Diana was over at Green Gables
• 7:03:34
  when she arrived, and they met as if they had been parted for years.
• 7:03:37
  You, oh, Darling, it's perfectly splendid to see you back again.
• 7:03:41
  It seems like an age since you went to town. And Oh Anne,
• 7:03:44
  how did you get along? Pretty well? I think in everything but
• 7:03:48
  the geometry, I don't know whether I passed in it or not, and
• 7:03:51
  I have a creepy Crawley presentiment that I didn't. Oh, how good it
• 7:03:55
  is to be back. Green Gables is the dearest, loveliest spot in the
• 7:03:57
  world. How did they the others? Do? The girls say they know
• 7:04:02
  they didn't pass, but I think they did pretty well. Josie says the
• 7:04:04
  geometry was so easy a child of ten could do it. Moody Spurgeon still
• 7:04:08
  thinks he failed in history. Ann Charley says he felt in algebra, but
• 7:04:11
  we don't really know anything about it, and won't until the pass list is
• 7:04:15
  out. That won't be for a fortnight. Fancy living a fortnight in such
• 7:04:18
  suspense. I wish I could go to sleep and never wake up until it
• 7:04:22
  is over. Diana knew it would be useless to ask how Gilbert Blythe had
• 7:04:26
  fared, so she merely said, Oh, you'll pass all right, don't
• 7:04:30
  worry. I'd rather not pass at all than not come out pretty well up
• 7:04:33
  on the list, flashed Anne, by which she meant, and Diana knew
• 7:04:37
  she meant that success would be incomplete and bitter if she did not come out
• 7:04:41
  ahead of Gilbert Blyfe. With this end in view, Anne had strained every
• 7:04:45
  nerve during the examinations. So had Gilbert. They had met and passed each
• 7:04:48
  other on the street a dozen times without any sign of recognition, and every
• 7:04:52
  time Anne had held her head a little higher and wished a little more earnestly
• 7:04:56
  that she had made friends with Gilbert. When he asked her, and vowed
• 7:04:59
  Aly more determinedly to surpass him in the examination. She knew that all Avonlea
• 7:05:03
  Junior was wondering which would come out first. She even knew that Jimmy Glover
• 7:05:07
  and ned Wright had a bet on the question, and that Josie Pye had
• 7:05:11
  said there was no doubt in the world that Gilbert would be first. And
• 7:05:14
  she felt that her humiliation would be unbearable if she failed. But she had
• 7:05:18
  another and nobler motive for wishing to do well. She wanted to pass high
• 7:05:22
  for the sake of Matthew and Marilla, especially Matthew. Matthew had declared to
• 7:05:26
  her his conviction that she would beat the whole island. That Anne felt was
• 7:05:30
  something it would be foolish to hope for, even in the wildest dreams.
• 7:05:33
  But she did hope fervently that she would be among the first ten, at
• 7:05:37
  least so that she might see Matthew's kindly brown eyes gleam with pride in her
• 7:05:41
  achievement that she felt would be a sweet reward. Indeed, for all her
• 7:05:45
  hard work and patient grubbing among unimaginative equations and conjugations, at the end of
• 7:05:52
  the fortnight, Anne took to haunting the post office, also in the distracted
• 7:05:55
  company of Jane Ruby and Josie opening the Charlottetown dailies with shaking head, hands
• 7:06:00
  and cold sink away feelings as bad as any experience during the entrance week.
• 7:06:03
  Charley and Gilbert were not above doing this too, but Moody Spurgeon stayed resolutely
• 7:06:08
  away. I haven't got the grit to go there and look at a paper
• 7:06:11
  in cold blood, he told Anne, I'm just going to wait until somebody
• 7:06:15
  comes and tells me suddenly whether I've passed or not. When three weeks had
• 7:06:18
  gone by without the past list appearing, Anne began to feel that she really
• 7:06:22
  couldn't stand the strain much longer. Her appetite failed in her interest in Avonlea
• 7:06:26
  doings languished. Missus Lynde wanted to know what else you could expect with a
• 7:06:30
  Tory superintendent of education at the head of affairs, and Matthew, noting Anne's
• 7:06:34
  paleness and indifference in the lagging steps that bore her home from the post office
• 7:06:37
  every afternoon, began seriously to wonder if he hadn't better vote grit at the
• 7:06:41
  next election, but one evening the news came. Anne was sitting at her
• 7:06:47
  open window for the time, forgetful of the woes of examinations and the cares
• 7:06:49
  of the world, as she drank in the beauty of the summer dusk,
• 7:06:52
  sweet scented with flower breaths from the garden below, and sibilant and rustling from
• 7:06:56
  the stir of poplars. The east extern sky above the firs was flushed faintly
• 7:07:02
  pink from the reflection of the west, and Anne was wondering dreamily if the
• 7:07:04
  spirit of color looked like that. When she saw Diana come flying through the
• 7:07:08
  furs, over the log bridge and up the slope with a fluttering newspaper in
• 7:07:12
  her hand, Anne sprang to her feet, knowing at once what that paper
• 7:07:15
  contained. The pass list was out. Her head whirled, and her heart
• 7:07:19
  beat until it hurt her. She could not move a step. It seemed
• 7:07:23
  an hour to her before Diana came rushing along the hall and burst into the
• 7:07:26
  room without even knocking. So great was her excitement. Anne, you passed,
• 7:07:32
  she cried, past the very first. You and Gilbert both your ties,
• 7:07:34
  but your name is first. Oh I am so proud. Diana flung
• 7:07:38
  the paper on the table and herself on Anne's bed. Utterly breathless and incapable
• 7:07:42
  of further speech, Anne lighted the lamp, oversetting the match safe and using
• 7:07:48
  up half a dozen matches before her shaking hands could accomplish the task. Then
• 7:07:52
  she snatched up the paper. Yes, she had passed. There was her
• 7:07:56
  name at the very top of a list of two hundred. That moment was
• 7:08:00
  worth living for. You did jest splendidly, Anne puffed, Diana, recovering
• 7:08:03
  sufficiently to sit up and speak for Anne, starry eyed and rapt, had
• 7:08:07
  not uttered a word. Father brought the paper home from bright River, not
• 7:08:11
  ten minutes ago. It came out on the afternoon train, you know,
• 7:08:15
  and won't be here till tomorrow by mail. And when I saw the pass
• 7:08:18
  list, I just rushed over like a wild thing. You've all passed,
• 7:08:22
  every one of you, Moody, Spurgeon and all. Although he's conditioned in
• 7:08:25
  history. Jane and Ruby did pretty well. They're half way up, and
• 7:08:27
  so did Charley. Josie just scraped through with three marks to spare. But
• 7:08:32
  you'll see she'll put on as many airs as if she'd led, won't miss
• 7:08:34
  Stacy be delighted. Oh, Anne, what does it feel like to see
• 7:08:37
  your name at the head of a pass list like that? If it were
• 7:08:41
  me, I know i'd go crazy with joy. I'm pretty near crazy as
• 7:08:45
  it is, But you're as calm and cool as a spring evening. I'm
• 7:08:48
  just dazzled inside, said Anne. I want to say a hundred things,
• 7:08:51
  and I can't find words to say them in I never dreamed of this,
• 7:08:55
  Yes, I did too, just once. I let myself think once,
• 7:08:59
  what if I should come out first? Quakingly, you know, for it
• 7:09:02
  seemed so vain and presumptuous to think I could lead the island. Excuse me
• 7:09:06
  a minute, Diana. I must run right out to the field to tell
• 7:09:07
  Matthew. Then we'll go up the road and tell the good news to the
• 7:09:11
  others. They hurried to the hay field below the barn, where Matthew was
• 7:09:15
  coiling hay, and as luck would have it, missus Lynde was talking to
• 7:09:18
  Marilla at the lane fence. Oh, Matthew, exclaimed Anne. I've passed,
• 7:09:22
  and I'm first, or one of the first. I'm not vain,
• 7:09:25
  but I'm thankful. Well now, I always said it, said Matthew,
• 7:09:29
  gazing at the past list delightedly. I knew you could beat them all easily.
• 7:09:33
  You've done pretty well, I must say, said Marilla, trying to
• 7:09:37
  hide her extreme pride in Anne from Missus Rachel's critical eye. But that good
• 7:09:41
  soul, said heartily, I just guess she has done well, And far
• 7:09:44
  be it from me to be backward in saying it. You're a credit to
• 7:09:47
  your friends, Anne, that's what, and we're all proud of you.
• 7:09:51
  That night, Anne, who had wound up the delightful evening with a serious
• 7:09:53
  little talk with Missus Allen at the Man's, knelt sweetly by her open window
• 7:09:57
  in a great sheen of moonshine, and murmured a prayer of gratitude and aspiration
• 7:10:02
  that came straight from her heart. There was in it thankfulness for the past
• 7:10:06
  and reverend petition for the future. And when she slept on her white pillow,
• 7:10:10
  her dreams were as fair and bright and beautiful as maidenhood might desire.
• 7:10:15
  End of Chapter thirty two, Chapter thirty three, the hotel concert. Put
• 7:10:21
  on your white organdy by all means, Anne advised Diana. Decidedly. They
• 7:10:25
  were together in the east gable chamber. Outside it was only twilight a lovely
• 7:10:30
  yellowish green twilight with a clear blue, cloudless sky. A big round moon
• 7:10:34
  slowly deepening from her pallid luster into burnished silver, hung over the haunted wood.
• 7:10:41
  The air was full of sweet summer sounds, sleepy birds twittering, freakish
• 7:10:45
  breezes, far away voices, and laughter. But in Anne's room the blind
• 7:10:48
  was drawn and the lamp lighted, for an important toilette was being made.
• 7:10:53
  The east gable was a very different place from what it had been on that
• 7:10:56
  night four years before, when Anne had felt its bareiness penetrate to the marrow
• 7:11:00
  of her spirit. With its inhospitable chill. Changes had crept in Marilla,
• 7:11:06
  conniving at them, resignedly, until it was as sweet and dainty a nest
• 7:11:08
  as a young girl could desire. The velvet carpet with the pink roses and
• 7:11:12
  the pink silk curtains of Anne's early visions had certainly never materialized, but her
• 7:11:18
  dreams had kept pace with her growth, and it is not probable she lamented
• 7:11:21
  them. The floor was covered with a pretty matting, and the curtains that
• 7:11:25
  softened the high window and fluttered in the vagrant breezes were of pale green art
• 7:11:29
  muslin. The walls hung not with gold and silver brocade tapestry, but with
• 7:11:33
  a dainty apple blossom paper, were adorned with a few good pictures given Anne
• 7:11:37
  by missus Allen. Miss Stacy's photograph occupied the place of honor, and Anne
• 7:11:41
  made a sentimental point of keeping fresh flowers on the bracket under it. To
• 7:11:47
  night, a spike of white lilies faintly perfumed the room, like the dream
• 7:11:49
  of a fragrance. There was no mahogany furniture, but there was a white
• 7:11:53
  painted bookcase filled with books, a cushioned wicker rocker, a toilette table befrilled
• 7:11:59
  with white muslin, a quaint gilt framed mirror with chubby pink cupids and purple
• 7:12:03
  grapes painted over its arched top that used to hang in the spare room,
• 7:12:07
  and a low white bed. Anne was dressing for a concert at the White
• 7:12:11
  Sands Hotel. The guests had got it up in aid of the Charlottetown Hospital
• 7:12:15
  and had hunted out all the available amateur talent in the surrounding districts to help
• 7:12:18
  it along. Bertha Sampson and Pearl Clay of the White Sands Baptist choir had
• 7:12:22
  been asked to sing a duet. Milton Clark of Newbridge was to give a
• 7:12:26
  violin solo, Winnie Adela Blair of Carmody was to sing a Scotch ballad,
• 7:12:30
  and Laura Spencer of Spencervale and Anne Shirley of Avonlea were to recite. As
• 7:12:34
  Anne would have said at one time, it was an epoch in her life
• 7:12:37
  and she was deliciously a thrilled with the excitement of it. Matthew was in
• 7:12:41
  the seventh Heaven of gratified pride over the honor conferred on his Anne, and
• 7:12:45
  Marilla was not far behind, although she would have died rather than admitted and
• 7:12:48
  said she didn't think it was very proper for a lot of young folks to
• 7:12:52
  be gadding over to the hotel without any responsible person with them. Anne and
• 7:12:56
  Diana were to drive over with Jane Andrews and her brother Billy in their double
• 7:13:00
  buggy, and several other Avonlea girls and boys were going too. There was
• 7:13:03
  a party of visitors expected out from town, and after the concert a supper
• 7:13:07
  was to be given to the performers. Do you really think the organdy will
• 7:13:11
  be best queried Anne anxiously. I don't think is as pretty as my blue
• 7:13:15
  flowered muslin, and it certainly isn't so fashionable, but it suits you ever
• 7:13:18
  so much better, said Diana. It's so soft and frilly and clinging.
• 7:13:22
  The muslin is stiff and makes you look too dressed up, but the organdy
• 7:13:26
  seems as if it grew on you. Anne sighed and yielded. Diana was
• 7:13:30
  beginning to have a reputation for notable taste in dressing, and her advice on
• 7:13:34
  such subjects was much sought after. She was looking very pretty herself on this
• 7:13:37
  particular night, in a dress of the lovely wild rose pink, from which
• 7:13:41
  Anne was forever debarred. But she was not to take any part in the
• 7:13:45
  concert, so her appearance was of minor importance. All her pains were bestowed
• 7:13:48
  upon Anne, who she vowed, must, for the credit of Avonlea,
• 7:13:52
  be dressed and combed and adorned to the Queen's taste. Pull out that frill
• 7:13:56
  a little more so here, let me tie your sash now for your slippers.
• 7:14:00
  I'm going to braid your hair in two thick braids and tie them half
• 7:14:03
  way up with big white bows. No don't pull out a single curl over
• 7:14:07
  your forehead. Just have the soft part. There is no way you do.
• 7:14:11
  Your hair suits you so well, Anne, and missus Allan says you
• 7:14:12
  look like a madonna when you parted. So I shall fasten this little white
• 7:14:17
  house rose just behind your ear. There was just one on my bush,
• 7:14:19
  and I saved it for you. Shall I put my pearl beads on?
• 7:14:22
  Asked Anne. Matthew brought me a string from town last week, and I
• 7:14:26
  know he'd like to see them on me. Diana pursed up her lips,
• 7:14:30
  put her black head on one side critically, and finally pronounced in favor of
• 7:14:33
  the beads, which were thereupon tied round Anne's slim, milk white throat.
• 7:14:37
  There's something so stylish about you, Anne, said Diana, with unenvious admiration.
• 7:14:41
  You hold your head with such an air. I suppose it's your figure.
• 7:14:45
  I am just a dumpling. I've always been afraid of it, and
• 7:14:48
  now I know it is so well. I suppose I shall just have to
• 7:14:52
  resign myself to it. But you have such dimples, said Anne, smiling
• 7:14:56
  affectionately into the pretty, vivacious face so near her own lovely dimples like little
• 7:15:00
  dents and cream. I've given up all hope of dimples. My dimple dream
• 7:15:04
  will never come true, But so many of my dreams have that I mustn't
• 7:15:07
  complain. Am I all ready now? Already assured Diana? As Marilla appeared
• 7:15:12
  in the doorway, a gaunt figure with grayer hair than of your, and
• 7:15:15
  no fewer angles, but with a much softer face. Come right in and
• 7:15:19
  look at our elocution is Marilla? Doesn't she look lovely? Marilla emitted a
• 7:15:23
  sound between a sniff and a grunt. She looks neat and proper. I
• 7:15:27
  like that way of fixing her hair, but I expect she'll ruin that dress
• 7:15:30
  driving over there in the dust and dew with it, and it looks most
• 7:15:33
  too thin for these damp nights. Organdy's the most unserviceable stuff in the world
• 7:15:37
  anyhow, And I told Matthew so when he got it. But there is
• 7:15:41
  no use in saying anything to Matthew nowadays. Time was when he would take
• 7:15:45
  my advice, but now he just buys things for Anne regardless. And the
• 7:15:48
  clerks at Carmody know they can palm anything off on him. Just let them
• 7:15:52
  tell him a thing is pretty and fashionable, and Matthew plunks his money down
• 7:15:55
  for it. Mind you keep your skirt clear of the wheel, Anne,
• 7:15:57
  and put your warm jacket on. Then Marilla stalked downstairs, thinking proudly how
• 7:16:03
  sweet Anne looked with that one moonbeam from the forehead to the crown, and
• 7:16:07
  regretting that she could not go to the concert herself to hear her girl recite.
• 7:16:11
  I wonder if it is too damp for my dress, said Anne anxiously.
• 7:16:15
  Not a bit of it, said Diana, pulling up the window blind.
• 7:16:18
  It's a perfect night and there won't be any dew. Look at the
• 7:16:22
  moonlight. I'm so glad my window looks east into the sun rising, said
• 7:16:26
  Anne, going over to Diana. It's so splendid to see the morning coming
• 7:16:29
  up over those long hills and glowing through those sharp fur tops. It's new
• 7:16:33
  every morning, and I feel as if I washed my very soul in that
• 7:16:37
  bath of earliest sunshine. Oh Diana, I love this little room so dearly.
• 7:16:41
  I don't know how I'll get along without it when I go to town
• 7:16:45
  next month. Don't speak of your going away to night, begged Diana.
• 7:16:48
  I don't want to think of it. It makes me so miserable, and
• 7:16:52
  I do want to have a good time this evening. What are you going
• 7:16:55
  to recite? Anne? And are you nervous? Not a bit I've recited
• 7:16:59
  so often in public. I don't mind at all. Now I've decided to
• 7:17:02
  give the maiden's vow. It's so pathetic. Laura Spencer is going to give
• 7:17:04
  a comic recitation. But I'd rather make people cry than laugh. What will
• 7:17:08
  you recite if they encore you? They wouldn't dream of encoreing me, scoffed
• 7:17:12
  Anne, who was not without her own secret hopes that they would and already
• 7:17:17
  visioned herself telling Matthew all about it the next morning's breakfast table. There are
• 7:17:21
  Billy and Jane. Now I hear the wheels come on. Billy Andrews insisted
• 7:17:25
  that Anne should ride on the front seat with him, so she unwillingly climbed
• 7:17:27
  up. She would have much preferred to sit back with the girls, where
• 7:17:30
  she could have laughed and chattered to her heart's content. There was not much
• 7:17:34
  of either laughter or chatter, and Billy, he was a big, fat,
• 7:17:37
  stolid youth of twenty, with a round, expressionless face and a painful
• 7:17:41
  lack of conversational gifts, but he admired Anne immensely, and was puffed up
• 7:17:45
  with pride over the prospect of driving to White Sands with that slim, upright
• 7:17:48
  figure beside him. Anne, by dint of talking over her shoulder to the
• 7:17:53
  girls, and occasionally passing a sop of civility to Billy, who grinned and
• 7:17:56
  chuckled and never could think of any reply until it was too late, contrived
• 7:18:00
  to enjoy the drive. In spite of all, it was a night for
• 7:18:03
  enjoyment. The road was full of buggies, all bound for the hotel,
• 7:18:07
  and laughter, silver clear echoed and re echoed along it. When they reached
• 7:18:11
  the hotel, it was a blaze of light from top to bottom. They
• 7:18:15
  were met by the ladies of the concert committee, one of whom took Anne
• 7:18:18
  off to the performer's dressing room, which was filled with the members of a
• 7:18:21
  Charlottetown symphony club, among whom Anne felt suddenly shy and frightened and countrified.
• 7:18:26
  Her dress, which in the East Gable had seemed so dainty and pretty,
• 7:18:30
  now seemed simple and plain. Too simple and plain, she thought, among
• 7:18:33
  all the silks and laces that glistened and rustled around her. What were her
• 7:18:37
  pearl beads compared to the diamonds of the big, handsome lady near her,
• 7:18:41
  And how poor her one wee white rose must look beside all the hot house
• 7:18:45
  flowers the others wore. Anne laid her hat and jacket away and shrank miserably
• 7:18:49
  into a corner. She wished herself back in the white room at Green Gables.
• 7:18:55
  It was still worse on the platform of the big concert hall of the
• 7:18:57
  hotel, where she presently found herself. The electric lights dazzled her eyes,
• 7:19:02
  their perfume and hum bewildered her. She wished she was sitting down in the
• 7:19:06
  audience with Diana and Jane, who seemed to be having a splendid time away.
• 7:19:08
  At the back, she was wedged in between a stout lady in pink
• 7:19:11
  silk and a tall, scornful looking girl in a white lace dress. The
• 7:19:15
  stout lady occasionally turned her head squarely around and surveyed Anne through her eye glasses,
• 7:19:21
  until Anne, acutely sensitive of being so scrutinized, felt that she must
• 7:19:25
  scream aloud, and the white lace girl kept talking audibly to her next neighbor
• 7:19:29
  about the country bumpkins and rustic bells in the audience, languidly anticipating such fun
• 7:19:33
  from the displays of local talent on the program, Anne believed that she would
• 7:19:37
  hate that white lace Girl to the end of life. Unfortunately for Anne,
• 7:19:42
  a professional elocutionist was staying at the hotel and had consented to recite. She
• 7:19:48
  was a life dark eyed woman in a wonderful gown of shimmering gray stuff like
• 7:19:52
  woven moonbeams, with gems on her neck and in her dark hair. She
• 7:19:56
  had a marvelously flexible voice and wonderful power of expression. The audience went wild
• 7:20:00
  over her selection. Anne, forgetting all about herself and her troubles for the
• 7:20:04
  time, listened with rapt and shining eyes. But when the recitation ended,
• 7:20:08
  she suddenly put her hands over her face. She could never get up and
• 7:20:12
  recite after that. Never had she ever thought she could recite. Oh,
• 7:20:17
  if she were only back at Green Gables at this unpropitious moment her name was
• 7:20:22
  called somehow, Anne, who did not notice the rather guilty little start of
• 7:20:26
  surprise the white lace Girl gave, and would not have understood the subtle compliment
• 7:20:30
  implied therein. If she had got on her feet and moved dizzily out to
• 7:20:33
  the front. She was so pale that Diana and Jane down in the audience
• 7:20:37
  clasped each other's hands in nervous sympathy. Anne was the victim of an overwhelming
• 7:20:41
  attack of stage fright. Often as she had recited in public. She had
• 7:20:45
  never before faced such an audience as this, and the sight of it paralyzed
• 7:20:49
  her energies completely. Everything was so strange, so brilliant, so bewildering,
• 7:20:53
  the rows of ladies in evening dress, the critical faces, the whole atmosphere
• 7:20:59
  of wealth and cold about her. Very different. This from the plain benches
• 7:21:03
  at the debating club, filled with the homely, sympathetic faces of friends and
• 7:21:07
  neighbors. These people, she thought would be merciless critics. Perhaps like the
• 7:21:11
  white lace girl, they anticipated amusement from her rustic efforts. She felt hopelessly,
• 7:21:15
  helplessly, ashamed and miserable. Her knees trembled, her heart fluttered,
• 7:21:21
  A horrible faintness came over her. Not a word could she utter, and
• 7:21:25
  the next moment she would have fled from the platform, despite the humiliation which
• 7:21:29
  she felt must ever after be her portion. If she did so, But
• 7:21:32
  suddenly, as her dilated, frightened eyes gazed out over the audience, she
• 7:21:37
  saw Gilbert Blythe away at the back of the room, bending forward with a
• 7:21:40
  smile on his face, a smile which seemed to Anne at once triumphant and
• 7:21:44
  taunting. In reality, it was nothing of the kind. Gilbert was merely
• 7:21:48
  smiling with appreciation of the whole affair in general, and of the effect produced
• 7:21:52
  by Anne's slender, white form and spiritual face against a background of palms.
• 7:21:56
  In particular, Josie Pye, whom he had driven over, sat beside him,
• 7:22:00
  and her face certainly was both triumphant and taunting. But Anne did not
• 7:22:03
  see Josie, and would not have cared if she had. She drew a
• 7:22:07
  long breath and flung her head up proudly, courage and determination tingling over her
• 7:22:11
  like an electric shock. She would not fail before Gilbert Blythe he should never
• 7:22:17
  be able to laugh at her, never never. Her fright and nervousness vanished,
• 7:22:21
  and she began her recitation, her clear, sweet voice reaching to the
• 7:22:25
  farthest corner of the room without a tremor or a break. Self possession was
• 7:22:27
  fully restored to her, and in the reaction from that horrible moment of powerlessness,
• 7:22:32
  she recited as she had never done before. When she finished, there
• 7:22:36
  were bursts of honest applause. Anne, stepping back to her seat, blushing
• 7:22:40
  with shyness and delight, found her hand vigorously clasped and shaken by the stout
• 7:22:44
  lady in pink silk. My dear, you did splendidly, she puffed.
• 7:22:48
  I've been crying like a baby. Actually I have there. They're anchoring you.
• 7:22:52
  They're bound to have you back. Oh I can't go, said Anne,
• 7:22:55
  confusedly. But yet I must. Poor Matthew will be disappointed, he
• 7:22:59
  said, They would UNQUI me. Then, don't disappoint Matthew, said the
• 7:23:02
  pink lady, laughing, smiling, blushing, limpid eyed, Anne tripped back
• 7:23:07
  and gave a quaint, funny little selection that captivated her audience still further.
• 7:23:11
  The rest of the evening was quite a little triumph for her. When the
• 7:23:15
  concert was over, the stout pink lady, who was the wife of an
• 7:23:18
  American millionaire, took her under her wing and introduced her to everybody, and
• 7:23:21
  everybody was very nice to her. The professional elocutionist, Missus Evans, came
• 7:23:25
  and chatted with her, telling her that she had a charming voice and interpreted
• 7:23:29
  her selections beautifully. Even the white lace girl paid her a languid little compliment.
• 7:23:33
  They had supper in the big, beautifully decorated dining room. Diana and
• 7:23:37
  Jane were invited to partake of this also, since they had come with Anne,
• 7:23:41
  but Billy was nowhere to be found, having decamped in mortal fear of
• 7:23:44
  some such invitation. He was in waiting for them with the team. However,
• 7:23:48
  when it was all over and the three girls came merrily out into the
• 7:23:51
  calm, white moonshine radiance, Anne breathed deeply and looked into the clear sky
• 7:23:56
  beyond the dark boughs of the firs. Oh, it was good to be
• 7:23:59
  out again in the purity and silence of the night. How great and still
• 7:24:03
  and wonderful everything was, with the murmur of the seas sounding through it,
• 7:24:07
  and the darkling cliffs beyond like grim giants garding enchanted coasts. Hasn't it been
• 7:24:11
  a perfectly splendid time, sighed Jane as they drove away. I just wish
• 7:24:17
  I was a rich American and could spend my summer at a hotel and wear
• 7:24:18
  jewels and low neck dresses and have ice cream and chicken salad every blessed day.
• 7:24:23
  I'm sure it would be ever so much more fun than teaching school.
• 7:24:26
  Anne, your recitation was simply great, although I thought at first you were
• 7:24:30
  never going to begin. I think it was better than missus Evans's. Oh
• 7:24:34
  no, don't say things like that, Jane, said Anne quickly, because
• 7:24:37
  it sounds silly. It couldn't be better than missus Evans's, you know,
• 7:24:41
  for she is a professional and I'm only a schoolgirl with a little knack of
• 7:24:45
  reciting. I'm quite satisfied if the people just like mine pretty well, I've
• 7:24:48
  a compliment for you, Anne, said Diana. At least I think it
• 7:24:52
  must be a compliment because of the tone he set it in. Part of
• 7:24:55
  it was, anyhow, there was an American sitting behind Jane and me,
• 7:24:59
  such a romance looking man with coal black hair and eyes. Josie Pye says
• 7:25:03
  he is a distinguished artist, and that her mother's cousin in Boston is married
• 7:25:06
  to a man that used to go to school with him. Well, we
• 7:25:08
  heard him say, didn't we Jane, Who is that girl on the platform
• 7:25:11
  with the splendid Titian hair. She has a face I should like to paint
• 7:25:15
  there now, Anne, But what does Titian hair mean being interpreted? It
• 7:25:21
  means plain red, I guess, laughed Anne. Titiam was a very famous
• 7:25:25
  artist who liked to paint red haired women. Did you see all the diamonds
• 7:25:29
  those ladies wore? Sighed Jane. It was simply dazzling. Wouldn't you just
• 7:25:33
  love to be rich? Girls? We are rich, said Anne staunchly.
• 7:25:37
  Why we have sixteen years to our credit, and we're happiest queen's and we've
• 7:25:41
  all got imaginations more or less. Look at that sea girl's all silver and
• 7:25:45
  shadow and visions of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more
• 7:25:49
  if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds. You wouldn't change into
• 7:25:53
  any of those women if you could. Would you want to be that white
• 7:25:56
  lace girl and where a sour look all your life? As if you've been
• 7:25:59
  born turning up your nose at the world, or the pink lady kind and
• 7:26:03
  nice as she is, so stout and short that you'd really no figure at
• 7:26:06
  all, or even missus Evans with that sad sad look in her eyes.
• 7:26:10
  She must have been dreadfully unhappy sometimes to have such a look. You know
• 7:26:14
  you wouldn't, Jane Andrews. I don't know exactly, said Jane, unconvinced.
• 7:26:19
  I think diamonds would comfort a person for a good deal. Well,
• 7:26:22
  I don't want to be any one but myself, even if I go uncomforted
• 7:26:26
  by diamonds all my life, declared Anne. I'm quite content to be Anne
• 7:26:30
  of Green Gables with my string of pearl beads. I know Matthew gave me
• 7:26:33
  as much love with them as ever went into Madam the Pink Lady's Jewels.
• 7:26:38
  End of Chapter thirty three, Chapter thirty four, A Queen's Girl. The
• 7:26:45
  next three weeks were busy ones at Green Gables, for Anne was getting ready
• 7:26:48
  to go to Queen's and there was much sewing to be done, and many
• 7:26:52
  things to be talked over and arranged. Anne's outfit was ample and pretty,
• 7:26:56
  for Matthew saught of that, and Marilla for once made no objections whatever to
• 7:27:00
  anything he purchased or suggested more. One evening she went up to the east
• 7:27:03
  gable with her arms full of a delicate, pale green material. Anne,
• 7:27:07
  here's something for a nice light dress for you. I don't suppose you really
• 7:27:11
  needed You've plenty of pretty waists, but I thought maybe you'd like something real
• 7:27:15
  dressy to wear if you were asked out anywhere of an evening in town,
• 7:27:18
  to a party or anything like that. I hear that Jane and Ruby and
• 7:27:21
  Josie have got evening dresses, as they call them, and I don't mean
• 7:27:25
  you shall be behind them. I got missus Allen to help me pick it
• 7:27:27
  in town last week, and we'll get Emily Gillis to make it for you.
• 7:27:30
  Emily has got taste and her fits aren't to be equalled. Oh Marilla,
• 7:27:34
  it's just lovely, said Anne. Thank you so much. I don't
• 7:27:38
  believe you ought to be so kind to me. It's making it harder every
• 7:27:41
  day for me to go away. The green dress was made up with as
• 7:27:45
  many tucks and frills and shirrings as Emily's taste permitted. Anne put it on
• 7:27:49
  one evening for Matthew's and Marilla's benefit, and recited the Maiden's vow for them
• 7:27:53
  in the kitchen. As Marilla watched the bright, animated face and graceful motions,
• 7:27:59
  her thoughts went back to the evening, Anne had arrived at Green Gables,
• 7:28:02
  and memory recalled a vivid picture of the odd, frightened child in her
• 7:28:04
  preposterous yellowish brown wincey dress, the heart breake, looking out of her tearful
• 7:28:10
  eyes. Something in the memory brought tears to Marilla's own eyes. I declare
• 7:28:15
  my recitation has made you cry, Marilla, said Anne, gaily, stooping
• 7:28:18
  over Marilla's chair to drop a butterfly kiss on that lady's cheek. Now,
• 7:28:22
  I call that a positive triumph. No, I wasn't crying over your piece,
• 7:28:26
  said Marilla, who would have scorned to be betrayed into such weakness by
• 7:28:30
  any poetry stuff. I just couldn't help thinking of the little girl you used
• 7:28:33
  to be, Anne, and I was wishing you could have stayed a little
• 7:28:36
  girl, even with all your queer ways. You've grown up now and you're
• 7:28:40
  going away, and you look so tall and stylish and so so different altogether
• 7:28:45
  in that dress, as if you didn't belong in Avonlea at all. And
• 7:28:48
  I just got lonesome thinking it all over Marilla. Anne sat down on Marilla's
• 7:28:53
  gingham lap, took Marilla's lined face between her hands, and looked gravely and
• 7:28:57
  tenderly into Marilla's eyes. I'm not a bit changed, not really, I'm
• 7:29:02
  only just pruned down and branched out. The real me back here is just
• 7:29:07
  the same. It won't make a bit of difference where I go or how
• 7:29:10
  much I change outwardly. At heart, I shall always be your little Anne,
• 7:29:14
  who will love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every
• 7:29:18
  day of her life. Anne laid her fresh, young cheek against Marilla's faded
• 7:29:22
  one and reached out a hand to pat Matthew's shoulder. Marilla would have given
• 7:29:26
  much just then to have possessed Anne's power of putting her feelings into words,
• 7:29:30
  but nature and habit had willed it otherwise, and she could only put her
• 7:29:34
  arms close about her girl and hold her tenderly to her heart, wishing that
• 7:29:37
  she need never let her go. Matthew, with a suspicious moisture in his
• 7:29:41
  eyes, got up and went out of doors under the stars of the blue
• 7:29:45
  summer night. He walked agitatedly across the yard to the gate under the poplars.
• 7:29:49
  Well, now, I guess she ain't been much spoilt, he muttered
• 7:29:53
  proudly. I guess my putting my oar in occasional never did much harm.
• 7:29:56
  After all, she's smart and pretty and loving too, which is better than
• 7:30:00
  all the rest. She's been a blessing to us, and there never was
• 7:30:03
  a luckier mistake than what missus Spencer made. If it was luck, I
• 7:30:07
  don't believe it was any such thing. It was providence, because the Almighty
• 7:30:11
  saw we needed her. I reckon. The day finally came when Anne must
• 7:30:15
  go to town. She and Matthew drove in one fine September morning, after
• 7:30:21
  a tearful parting with Diana and an untearful practical one on Marilla's side, at
• 7:30:25
  least with Marilla. But when Anne had gone, Diana dried her tears and
• 7:30:29
  went to a beech picnic at White Sands with some of her carmity cousins,
• 7:30:32
  where she contrived to enjoy herself tolerably well, while Marilla plunged fiercely into unnecessary
• 7:30:37
  work and kept at it all day long with the bitterest kind of heartache,
• 7:30:41
  the ache that burns and gnaws and cannot wash itself away in ready tears.
• 7:30:45
  But that night, when Marilla went to bed, acutely and miserably conscious that
• 7:30:48
  the little gable room at the end of the hall was untenanted by any vivid
• 7:30:52
  young life, and unstirred by any soft breathing. She buried her face in
• 7:30:56
  her pillow and wept for her girl in a passion of sobs that appalled her
• 7:31:00
  when she grew common enough to reflect how very wicked it must be to take
• 7:31:03
  on so about a sinful fellow creature. Anne and the rest of the Avonlea
• 7:31:08
  scholars reached town just in time to hurry off to the academy. That first
• 7:31:12
  day passed pleasantly enough, in a whirl of excitement, meeting all the new
• 7:31:15
  students, learning to know the professors by sight, and being assorted and organized
• 7:31:19
  into classes. Anne intended taking up the second year work, being advised to
• 7:31:25
  do so by Miss Stacy Gilbert Blythe elected to do the same. This meant
• 7:31:29
  getting a first class teacher's license in one year instead of two if they were
• 7:31:32
  successful, but it also meant much more and harder work. Jane Ruby,
• 7:31:37
  Josie Charley, and Moody Spurgeon, not being troubled with the stirrings of ambition,
• 7:31:41
  were content to take up the second class work. Anne was conscious of
• 7:31:44
  a pang of loneliness when she found herself in a room with fifty other students,
• 7:31:48
  not one of whom she knew except the tall, brown haired boy across
• 7:31:52
  the room, and knowing him in the fashion she did did not help her
• 7:31:55
  much, as she reflected pessimistically, Yet she was undeniably glad that they were
• 7:31:59
  in this same class. The old rivalry could still be carried on, and
• 7:32:03
  An would hardly have known what to do if it had been lacking. I
• 7:32:06
  wouldn't feel comfortable without it, she thought. Gilbert looks awfully determined. I
• 7:32:10
  suppose he's making up his mind here and now to win the medal. What
• 7:32:14
  a splendid chin he has. I never noticed it before. I do wish
• 7:32:18
  Jane and Ruby had gone in for first class too. I suppose I won't
• 7:32:22
  feel so much like a cat in a strange garret when I get acquainted,
• 7:32:23
  though, I wonder which of the girls here are going to be my friends.
• 7:32:27
  It's really an interesting speculation. Of course, I promised Diana that no
• 7:32:32
  queen's girl, no matter how much I liked her, should ever be as
• 7:32:34
  dear to me as she is. But I've lots of second best affections to
• 7:32:37
  bestow. I like the look of that girl with the brown eyes and the
• 7:32:41
  crimson waist. She looks vivid and red rosy. There's that pale fair one
• 7:32:45
  gazing out of the window. She has lovely hair and looks as if she
• 7:32:48
  knew a thing or two about dreams. I'd like to know them both,
• 7:32:52
  know them well, well enough to walk with my arm about their waists and
• 7:32:56
  call them nicknames. But just now I don't know them, and they don't
• 7:33:00
  know me. Anne probably don't want to know me particularly. Oh it's lonesome.
• 7:33:04
  It was lonesomer still when Anne found herself alone in her hall bedroom that
• 7:33:08
  night at twilight. She was not to board with the other girls, who
• 7:33:11
  all had relatives in town to take pity on them. Miss Josephine Barry would
• 7:33:15
  have liked to board her, but Beechwood was so far from the academy that
• 7:33:18
  it was out of the question. So Miss Barry hunted up a boarding house,
• 7:33:22
  assuring Matthew and Marilla that it was the very place for Anne. The
• 7:33:25
  lady who keeps it as a reduced gentlewoman, explained Miss Barry her husband was
• 7:33:29
  a British officer, and she is very careful what sort of border she takes
• 7:33:33
  Anne will not meet with any objectionable persons under her roof. The table is
• 7:33:37
  good, and the house is near the academy in a quiet neighborhood. All
• 7:33:41
  this might be quite true, and indeed proved to be so, but it
• 7:33:44
  did not materially help Anne in the first agony of homesickness that seized upon her.
• 7:33:48
  She looked dismally about her narrow little room, with its dull, papered,
• 7:33:52
  pictureless walls, its small iron bedstead, and empty bookcase, and a
• 7:33:56
  horrible choke came into her throat as she thought of her own white room at
• 7:34:00
  Green Gables, where she would have the pleasant consciousness of a great green still
• 7:34:03
  outdoors, of sweet peas growing in the garden, and moonlight falling on the
• 7:34:07
  orchard, of the brook below the slope, and the spruce boughs tossing in
• 7:34:11
  the night wind beyond it, of a vast starry sky, and the light
• 7:34:15
  from Diana's window shining out through the gap in the trees. Here there was
• 7:34:18
  nothing of this. Anne knew that outside of her window was a hard street
• 7:34:22
  with a network of telephone wires shutting out the sky, the tramp of alien
• 7:34:26
  feet, and a thousand lights gleaming on stranger faces. She knew that she
• 7:34:30
  was going to cry and fought against it. I won't cry. It's silly
• 7:34:34
  and weak. There's the third tear splashing down my nose. There are more
• 7:34:38
  coming. I must think of something funny to stop them. But there's nothing
• 7:34:42
  funny except what is connected with Avonlea, and that only makes things worse.
• 7:34:47
  Four five. I'm going home next Friday, but that seems a hundred years
• 7:34:52
  away. Oh, Matthew is nearly home by now, and Marilla is at
• 7:34:56
  the gate looking down the lane for him. Six seven, eight. Oh,
• 7:35:00
  there's no use in counting them. They're coming in a flood presently.
• 7:35:04
  I can't cheer up. I don't want to cheer up. It's nicer to
• 7:35:07
  be miserable. The flood of tears would have come, no doubt, had
• 7:35:11
  not Josie Pye appeared. At that moment. In the joy of seeing a
• 7:35:15
  familiar face, Anne forgot that there had never been much love lost between her
• 7:35:18
  and Josie. As a part of Avonlea life, even a pie was welcome.
• 7:35:22
  I'm so glad you came up, Anne said, Sincerely, you've been
• 7:35:26
  crying, remarked Josie with aggravating pity. I suppose you're homesick. Some people
• 7:35:30
  have so little self control in that respect. I've no intention of being homesick.
• 7:35:34
  I can tell you town's too jolly after that poky old Avonlea. I
• 7:35:38
  wonder how I ever existed there so long. You shouldn't cry, Anne,
• 7:35:42
  It isn't becoming for your nose and eyes get red, and then you seem
• 7:35:45
  all red. I'd a perfectly scrumptious time in the academy to day. Our
• 7:35:49
  French professor is simply a duck. His mustache would give you kowalops of the
• 7:35:53
  heart. Have you anything eatable around, Anne, I'm literally starving. Ah.
• 7:35:59
  I guessed like Marilla lowed you up with cake. That's why I called
• 7:36:02
  round. Otherwise I'd have gone to the park to hear the band play with
• 7:36:04
  Frank Stockley. He board the same place I do, and he's a sport.
• 7:36:08
  He noticed you in class today and asked me who the red headed girl
• 7:36:11
  was. I told him you were an orphan that the Cuthberts had adopted,
• 7:36:14
  and nobody knew very much about what you'd been before that. Anne was wondering
• 7:36:18
  if, after all solitude and tears were not more satisfactory than Josie Pye's companionship.
• 7:36:22
  When Jane and Ruby appeared, each with an inch of Queen's color ribbon
• 7:36:26
  purple and scarlet pinned proudly to her coat. As Josie was not speaking to
• 7:36:30
  Jane just then, she had to subside into comparative harmlessness. Well, said
• 7:36:36
  Jane with a sigh. I feel as if I had lived many moons since
• 7:36:40
  this morning. I ought to be home studying my Virgil. That horrid old
• 7:36:42
  professor gave us twenty lines to start in on tomorrow, but I simply couldn't
• 7:36:47
  settle down to study tonight. Anne methinks I see the traces of tears.
• 7:36:52
  If you've been crying, do own up. It will restore my self respect,
• 7:36:55
  for I was shedding tears freely before Ruby came along. I don't mind
• 7:36:59
  being a goose so much of somebody else's goosey too. Cake, you'll give
• 7:37:03
  me a teeny piece, won't you? Thank you? It has the real
• 7:37:06
  avonleaf flavor. Ruby, perceiving the Queen's calendar lying on the table, wanted
• 7:37:11
  to know if Anne meant to try for the gold medal. Anne blushed and
• 7:37:15
  admitted she was thinking of it. Oh, that reminds me, said Josie.
• 7:37:18
  Queen's is to get one of the Avery scholarships. After all, the
• 7:37:21
  word came to day Frank Stockley told me his uncle is one of the board
• 7:37:23
  of governors. You know, it will be announced in the academy tomorrow,
• 7:37:26
  an Avery Scholarship. Anne felt her heart beat more quickly, and the horizons
• 7:37:33
  of her ambition shifted and broadened, as if by magic. Before Josie had
• 7:37:37
  told the news, Anne's highest pinnacle of aspiration had been a teacher's Provincial license
• 7:37:41
  first class at the end of the year, and perhaps the medal. But
• 7:37:44
  now, in one moment, Anne saw herself winning the Avery Scholarship, taking
• 7:37:48
  an arts course at Redmond College, and graduating in a gown and mortar board.
• 7:37:52
  Before the echo of Josie's words had died away, for the Avery Scholarship
• 7:37:56
  was in English, and Anne felt that here her foot was on native heath.
• 7:38:00
  A wealthy manufacturer of New Brunswick had died and left part of his fortune
• 7:38:03
  to endow a large number of scholarships to be distributed among the various high schools
• 7:38:07
  and academies of the Maritime provinces according to their respective standings. There had been
• 7:38:11
  much doubt whether one would be allotted to Queen's, but the matter was settled
• 7:38:15
  at last, and at the end of the year, the graduate who made
• 7:38:18
  the highest mark in English and English Literature would win the scholarship two hundred and
• 7:38:22
  fifty dollars a year for four years at Redmond College. No wonder that Anne
• 7:38:26
  went to bed that night with tingling cheeks. I'll win that scholarship if hard
• 7:38:30
  work can do it, she resolved. Wouldn't Matthew be proud if I got
• 7:38:33
  to be a b A. Oh, It's delightful to have ambitions. I'm
• 7:38:37
  so glad I have such a lot, and there never seems to be any
• 7:38:40
  end to them. That's the best of it. Just as soon as you
• 7:38:42
  attained one ambition, you see another one glittering higher up. Still, it
• 7:38:45
  does make life so interesting. End of Chapter thirty four. Chapter thirty five.
• 7:38:52
  The winter at Queen's. Anne's homesickness wore off greatly, helped in the
• 7:38:57
  wearing by her week end visits home. As long as the open weather lasted.
• 7:39:02
  The Avonlea students went out to Carmody on the new Branch railway every Friday
• 7:39:06
  night. Diana and several other Avonlea young folks were generally on hand to meet
• 7:39:10
  them, and they all walked over to Avonlea in a merry party. Anne
• 7:39:14
  thought those Friday evening gipsyings over the autumnal hills in the crisp golden air,
• 7:39:18
  with the home lights of Avonlea twinkling beyond, were the best and dearest hours
• 7:39:22
  in the whole week. Gilbert life nearly always walked with Ruby Gillis and carried
• 7:39:26
  her satchel for her. Ruby was a very handsome young lady, now thinking
• 7:39:30
  herself quite as grown up as she really was. She wore her skirts as
• 7:39:33
  long as her mother would let her, and did her hair up in town,
• 7:39:37
  though she had to take it down when she went home. She had
• 7:39:40
  large, bright blue eyes, a brilliant complexion, and a plump, showy
• 7:39:44
  figure. She laughed a great deal, was cheerful and good tempered, and
• 7:39:47
  enjoyed the pleasant things of life. Frankly, but I wouldn't think she was
• 7:39:51
  the sort of girl Gilbert would like, whispered Jane to Anne. Anne did
• 7:39:55
  not think so either, but she would not have said so for the Avery
• 7:39:57
  scholarship. She could not help the thinking too, that it would be very
• 7:40:00
  pleasant to have such a friend as Gilbert to jest and chatter with and exchange
• 7:40:04
  ideas about books and studies and ambitions. Gilbert had ambitions, she knew,
• 7:40:08
  and Ruby Gillis did not seem the sort of person with whom such could be
• 7:40:11
  profitably discussed. There was no silly sentiment in Anne's ideas concerning Gilbert. Boys
• 7:40:18
  were, to her, when she thought about them, at all, merely
• 7:40:19
  possible good comrades. If she and Gilbert had been friends, she would not
• 7:40:23
  have cared how many other friends he had, nor with whom he walked.
• 7:40:26
  She had a genius for friendship. Girl friends she had in plenty, but
• 7:40:30
  she had a vague consciousness that masculine friendship might also be a good thing to
• 7:40:34
  round out one's conceptions of companionship and furnish broader standpoints of judgment and comparison.
• 7:40:41
  Not that Anne could have put her feelings on the matter into just such clear
• 7:40:44
  definition, but she thought that if Gilbert had ever walked home with her from
• 7:40:48
  the train, over the crisp fields and along the Ferny byways, they might
• 7:40:51
  have had many and merry and interesting conversations about the new world that was opening
• 7:40:55
  around them and their hopes and ambitions. Therein, Gilbert was a clever young
• 7:40:59
  fellow, with his own thoughts about things and a determination to get the best
• 7:41:03
  out of life and put the best into it. Ruby Gillis told Jane Andrews
• 7:41:07
  that she didn't understand half the things Gilbert Blythe said he talked just like Anne
• 7:41:11
  Shirley did when she had a thoughtful fit on, and for her part,
• 7:41:14
  she didn't think it any fun to be bothering about books and that sort of
• 7:41:17
  thing when you didn't have to. Frank Stockley had lots more dash and go,
• 7:41:21
  but then he wasn't half as good looking as Gilbert, and she really
• 7:41:23
  couldn't decide which she liked best. In the academy, Anne gradually drew a
• 7:41:29
  little circle of friends about her thoughtful, imaginative, ambitious students like herself.
• 7:41:33
  With the rose red girl Stella Maynard and the dream girl Priscilla Grant, she
• 7:41:37
  soon became intimate, finding the latter, pale, spiritual looking maiden to be
• 7:41:41
  full to the brim of mischief and pranks and fun, while the vivid,
• 7:41:45
  black eyed Stella had a heart full of wistful dreams and fancies as aerial and
• 7:41:48
  rainbow like as Anne's own. After the Christmas holidays, the Avonlea students gave
• 7:41:53
  up going home on Fridays and settled down to hard work. By this time
• 7:41:57
  all the Queen's scholars had gravity aided into their own places in the ranks,
• 7:42:00
  and the various classes had assumed distinct and settled shadings of individuality. Certain facts
• 7:42:07
  had become generally accepted. It was admitted that the metal contestants had practically narrowed
• 7:42:11
  down to three Gilbert Blythe Anne Shirley, and Lewis Wilson. The Avery scholarship
• 7:42:17
  was more doubtful any one of a certain six being a possible winner. The
• 7:42:21
  bronze medal for Mathematics was considered as good as one by a fat, funny,
• 7:42:23
  little up country boy with a bumpy forehead and a patched coat. Ruby
• 7:42:27
  Gillis was the handsomest girl of the year at the Academy. In the second
• 7:42:30
  year classes, Stella Maynard carried off the palm for Beauty with a small but
• 7:42:34
  critical minority in favor of Anne Shirley. Ethel Marr was admitted by all competent
• 7:42:40
  judges to have the most stylish modes of hair dressing, and Jane Andrews plain,
• 7:42:44
  plodding, conscientious. Jane carried off the honors of the domestic science course.
• 7:42:48
  Even Josie Pye attained a certain pre eminence as the sharpest tongued young lady
• 7:42:52
  in attendance at Queen's. So it may be fairly stated that Miss Stacy's old
• 7:42:56
  pupils held their own in the wider arena of the academical course. Anne worked
• 7:43:00
  hard and steadily. Her rivalry with Gilbert was as intense as it had ever
• 7:43:04
  been in Avonlea School, although it was not known in the class at large,
• 7:43:07
  But somehow the bitterness had gone out of it. Anne no longer wished
• 7:43:11
  to win for the sake of defeating Gilbert, rather for the proud consciousness of
• 7:43:15
  a well won victory over a worthy foeman. It would be worth while to
• 7:43:18
  win, but she no longer thought life would be insupportable if she did not.
• 7:43:22
  In spite of lessons, the students found opportunities for pleasant times. Anne
• 7:43:26
  spent many of her spare hours at Beechwood and generally ate her Sunday dinners there,
• 7:43:30
  and went to church with miss Barry. The latter was, as she
• 7:43:33
  admitted, growing old, but her black eyes were not dim, nor the
• 7:43:37
  vigor of her tongue in the least abated. But she never sharpened the latter
• 7:43:40
  on Anne, who continued to be a prime favorite with the critical old lady.
• 7:43:44
  That Anne girl improves all the time, she said, I get tired
• 7:43:48
  of other girls. There is such a provoking and eternal sameness about them.
• 7:43:52
  Anne has as many shades as a rainbow, and every shade is the prettiest
• 7:43:55
  while it lasts. I don't know that she is as amusing as she was
• 7:43:57
  when she was a child, but she makes me love her. And I
• 7:44:00
  like people who make me love them. It saves me so much trouble in
• 7:44:03
  making myself love them. Then, almost before anybody realized it, spring had
• 7:44:10
  come out in Avonlea. The mayflowers were peeping pinkly out in the sere barrens,
• 7:44:14
  where snow wreaths lingered, and the mist of green was on the woods
• 7:44:17
  and in the valleys. But in Charlottetown, Harris Queen's students thought and talked
• 7:44:22
  only of examinations. It doesn't seem possible that the term is nearly over said
• 7:44:26
  Anne. Why last fall it seemed so long to look forward to a whole
• 7:44:30
  winter of studies and classes, and here we are with the exams looming up
• 7:44:33
  next week. Girls, sometimes I feel as if those exams meant everything.
• 7:44:38
  But when I look at the big buds swelling on those chestnut trees, and
• 7:44:41
  the misty blue air at the end of the streets, they don't seem half
• 7:44:45
  so important. Jane and Ruby and Josie, who had dropped in did not
• 7:44:48
  take this view of it to them. The coming examinations were constantly very important,
• 7:44:53
  indeed far more important than chestnut buds or maytime Haze's. It was all
• 7:44:57
  very well for Anne, who was sure passing at least to have her moments
• 7:45:02
  of belittling them. But when your whole future depended on them, as the
• 7:45:04
  girls truly thought theirs did, you could not regard them philosophically. I've lost
• 7:45:10
  seven pounds in the last two weeks, sighed Jane. It's no use to
• 7:45:14
  say, don't worry, I will worry. Worrying helps you some. It
• 7:45:18
  seems as if you were doing something when you're worrying. It would be dreadful
• 7:45:21
  if I failed to get my license after going to Queen's all winter and spending
• 7:45:25
  so much money. I don't care, said Josie Pye. If I don't
• 7:45:29
  pass this year, I'm coming back next. My father can afford to send
• 7:45:32
  me. Anne. Frank Stockley says that Professor Tremaine said Gilbert Blythe was sure
• 7:45:37
  to get the medal and that Emily Clay would likely win the Avery Scholarship.
• 7:45:41
  That may make me feel badly tomorrow, Josie laughed Anne. But just now,
• 7:45:45
  I honestly feel that, as long as I know the violets are coming
• 7:45:47
  out all purple down in the hallow below green Gables, and that little ferns
• 7:45:51
  are poking their heads up in Lover's Lane, it's not a great deal of
• 7:45:53
  difference whether I win the Avery or not. I've done my best, and
• 7:45:56
  I begin to understand what is meant by the joy of the strife. Next
• 7:46:00
  to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing. Girls don't
• 7:46:04
  talk about exams. Look at that arch of pale green sky over those houses,
• 7:46:08
  and picture to yourself what it must look like over the purply dark beech
• 7:46:11
  woods back of Avonlea. What are you going to wear for commencement? Jane
• 7:46:15
  asked Ruby. Practically. Jane and Josie both answered at once, and the
• 7:46:18
  chatter drifted into a side eddy of fashions. But Anne, with her elbows
• 7:46:22
  on the window sill, her soft cheek laid against her clasped hands, and
• 7:46:26
  her eyes filled with visions, looked out unheedingly across city roof and spired to
• 7:46:30
  that glorious dome of sunset sky, and wove her dreams of a possible future
• 7:46:34
  from the golden tissue of youth's own optimism. All the beyond was hers,
• 7:46:38
  with its possibilities lurking Rosalie in the oncoming years, each year a rose of
• 7:46:44
  promise to be woven into an immortal chaplet end of Chapter thirty five, Chapter
• 7:46:49
  thirty six, The Glory and the Dream. On the morning when the final
• 7:46:53
  results of all the examinations were to be posted on the bulletin board at Queen's,
• 7:46:57
  Anne and Jane walked down the shot street together. Jane was smiling and
• 7:47:02
  happy. Examinations were over, and she was comfortably sure she had made a
• 7:47:04
  pass at least. Further considerations troubled Jane not at all. She had no
• 7:47:08
  soaring ambitions and consequently was not affected with the unrest attendant thereon, For we
• 7:47:14
  pay a price for everything we get or take in this world. And although
• 7:47:18
  ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but
• 7:47:21
  exact their dues of work and self denial, anxiety, and discouragement. Anne
• 7:47:26
  was pale and quiet. In ten more minutes she would know who had won
• 7:47:30
  the medal and who the avery. Beyond those ten minutes there did not seem
• 7:47:33
  just then to be anything worth being called time. Of course, you'll win
• 7:47:37
  one of them, anyhow, said Jane, who couldn't understand how the faculty
• 7:47:41
  could be so unfair ast to order it. Otherwise, I have not hope
• 7:47:44
  of the avery, said Anne. Everybody says Emily Clay will win it.
• 7:47:48
  And I'm not going to march up to that bulletin board and look at it
• 7:47:51
  before everybody. I haven't the moral courage. I'm going straight to the girl's
• 7:47:55
  dressing room. You must read the announcements and then come and tell me.
• 7:47:57
  Jane, and I implore you, in the name of our old friendship,
• 7:48:00
  to do it as quickly as possible. If I have failed, just say
• 7:48:03
  so without trying to break it gently. And whatever you do, don't sympathize
• 7:48:07
  with me. Promise me this, Jane. Jane promised solemnly, but as
• 7:48:12
  it happened, there was no necessity for such a promise. When they went
• 7:48:15
  up the entrance steps of Queen's they found the hall full of boys who were
• 7:48:18
  carrying Gilbert Blythe around on their shoulders and yelling at the tops of their voices
• 7:48:22
  Hurrah for b life meta list. For a moment, Anne felt one sickening
• 7:48:27
  pang of defeat and disappointment. So she had failed and Gilbert had won.
• 7:48:32
  Well, Matthew would be sorry, he had been so sure she would win.
• 7:48:37
  And then somebody called out three tears for miss Shirley, winner of the
• 7:48:41
  Avery. Oh, Anne, gasped Jane as they fled to the girl's dressing
• 7:48:45
  room, amid hearty cheers, Oh Anne, I'm so proud, isn't it
• 7:48:48
  splendid? And then the girls were around them, and Anne was the center
• 7:48:52
  of a laughing, congratulating group. Her shoulders were thumped and her hands shaken
• 7:48:56
  vigorously. She was pushed and pulled and hugged, and among it all all
• 7:49:00
  she managed to whisper to Jane, oh, won't Matthew and Marilla be pleased?
• 7:49:03
  I must write the news home right away. Commencement was the next important
• 7:49:07
  happening. The exercises were held in the big Assembly hall of the academy.
• 7:49:11
  Addresses were given, essays, read, songs sung, the public award of
• 7:49:15
  diplomas, prizes and medals made. Matthew and Marilla were there with eyes and
• 7:49:19
  ears for only one student on the platform, a tall girl in pale green
• 7:49:25
  with faintly flushed cheeks and starry eyes, who read the best essay and was
• 7:49:29
  pointed out and whispered about as the Avery winner. Reckon, you're glad we
• 7:49:33
  kept her, Marilla, whispered Matthew, speaking for the first time since he
• 7:49:36
  had entered the hall when Anne had finished her essay. It's not the first
• 7:49:40
  time I've been glad, retorted Marilla. You do like to rub things in
• 7:49:42
  Matthew Cuthbert. Miss Barry, who was sitting behind them, leaned forward and
• 7:49:47
  poked Marilla in the back with her parasol. Aren't you proud of that,
• 7:49:49
  Anne, girl? I am? She said. Anne went home to Avonlea
• 7:49:55
  with Matthew and Marilla that evening. She had not been home since April,
• 7:49:57
  and she felt that she could not wait an other day, the apple blossoms
• 7:50:02
  were out and the world was fresh, and young Diana was at Green Gables
• 7:50:04
  to meet her in her own white room, where Marilla had set a flowering
• 7:50:08
  house rose on the window sill. Anne looked about her and drew a long
• 7:50:11
  breath of happiness. Oh Diana, it's so good to be back again.
• 7:50:17
  It's so good to see those pointed furs coming out against the pink sky,
• 7:50:21
  and that white orchard against the old snow Queen. Isn't the breath of the
• 7:50:23
  mint delicious? And that tea rose? Why, it's a song and a
• 7:50:27
  hope and a prayer all in one. And it's good to see you again,
• 7:50:32
  Diana. I thought you liked that Stella Maynard better than me, said
• 7:50:36
  Diana, reproachfully. Josie Pye told me you did. Josie said you were
• 7:50:40
  infatuated with her. Anne laughed and pelted Diana with the faded June lilies of
• 7:50:44
  her bouquet. Stella Maynard is the dearest girl in the world except one,
• 7:50:48
  and you are that one, Diana, She said. I love you more
• 7:50:52
  than ever, and I've so many things to tell you, but just now
• 7:50:55
  I feel as if it were joy enough to sit here and look at you.
• 7:50:59
  I'm t I think tired of being studious and ambitious. I mean to
• 7:51:03
  spend at least two hours tomorrow lying out in the orchard grass thinking of absolutely
• 7:51:07
  nothing you've done. Splendidly, Anne, I suppose you won't be teaching now
• 7:51:12
  that you've won the Avery. No, I'm going to Redmond in September.
• 7:51:17
  Doesn't it seem wonderful. I'll have a brand new stock of ambition laid in
• 7:51:21
  by that time, after three glorious golden months of vacation. Jane and Ruby
• 7:51:25
  are going to teach. Isn't it splendid to think we all got through,
• 7:51:27
  even to Moody Spurgeon and Josie Pye. The Newbridge trustees have offered Jane their
• 7:51:32
  school already, said Diana. Gilbert Blythe is going to teach too. He
• 7:51:36
  has to. His father can't afford to send him to college next year,
• 7:51:38
  after all, so he means to earn his way through. I expect you'll
• 7:51:41
  get the school here if miss Ames decides to leave. Anne felt a queer
• 7:51:45
  little sensation of dismayed surprise. She had not known this. She had expected
• 7:51:48
  that Gilbert would be going to Redmond. Also, what would she do without
• 7:51:52
  their inspiring rivalry, would not work even at a co educational college with a
• 7:51:56
  real degree in prospect, be rather flat without her friend the enemy. The
• 7:52:02
  next morning, at breakfast, it suddenly struck Anne that Matthew was not looking
• 7:52:06
  well. Surely he was much grayer than he had been a year before,
• 7:52:08
  Marilla, she said, hesitatingly when he had gone out. Is Matthew quite
• 7:52:12
  well? No, he isn't, said Marilla in a troubled tone. He's
• 7:52:18
  had some real bad spells with his heart this spring, and he won't spare
• 7:52:21
  himself a mite. I've been real worried about him, but he's some better
• 7:52:25
  this while back, and we've got a good hired man, so I'm hoping
• 7:52:26
  he'll kind of rest and pick up. Maybe he will now you're home.
• 7:52:30
  You always cheer him up. Anne leaned across the table and took Marilla's face
• 7:52:34
  in her hands. You're not looking as well yourself as i'd like to see
• 7:52:37
  you, Marilla. You look tired. I'm afraid you've been working too hard.
• 7:52:41
  You must take a rest. Now that I'm home, I'm just going
• 7:52:45
  to take this one day off to visit all the dear old spots and hunt
• 7:52:48
  up my old dreams, and then it will be your turn to be lazy
• 7:52:51
  while I do the work. Marilla smiled affectionately at her girl. It's not
• 7:52:55
  the work, it's my head. I've got a pain so often now behind
• 7:52:59
  my eyes. Doctor Spencer's been fussing with glasses, but they don't do me
• 7:53:02
  any good. There is a distinguished oculist coming to the island the last of
• 7:53:06
  June, and the doctor says I must see him. I guess I'll have
• 7:53:08
  to. I can't read or sew with any comfort. Now. Well,
• 7:53:12
  Anne, you've done real well at Queen's, I must say, to take
• 7:53:15
  first class license in one year and win the Avery Scholarship. Well well,
• 7:53:21
  missus. Lynde says pride goes before a fall, and she doesn't believe in
• 7:53:23
  the higher education of women at all. She says it unfits them for woman's
• 7:53:26
  true sphere. I don't believe a word of it. Speaking of Rachel reminds
• 7:53:30
  me, did you hear anything about the Abbey bank lately? Anne? I
• 7:53:34
  heard it was shaky, answered Anne, why that is what Rachel said?
• 7:53:38
  She was up here one day last week and said there was some talk about
• 7:53:41
  it. Matthew felt real worried. All we have saved is in that bank,
• 7:53:45
  every penny. I wanted Matthew to put it in the savings bank in
• 7:53:48
  first place, But old mister Abbey was a great friend of father's, and
• 7:53:52
  he'd always banked with him. Matthew said any bank with him at the head
• 7:53:56
  of it was good enough for anybody. I think he has only been its
• 7:53:59
  nominal head for me many years, said Anne. He's a very old man.
• 7:54:03
  His nephews are really at the head of the institution. Well. When
• 7:54:06
  Rachel told us that I wanted Matthew to draw our money right out, and
• 7:54:10
  he said, you'd think of it. But mister Russell told him yesterday that
• 7:54:11
  the bank was all right. Anne had her good day in the companionship of
• 7:54:17
  the outdoor world. She never forgot that day. It was so bright and
• 7:54:19
  golden and fair, so free from shadow, and so lavish of blossom.
• 7:54:25
  Anne spent some of its rich hours in the orchard. She went to the
• 7:54:27
  Dryad's Bubble, and Willowmere and Violet Vale. She called in at the manse
• 7:54:32
  and had a satisfying talk with missus Allen, And finally in the evening she
• 7:54:36
  went with Matthew for the cows through Lovers Lane to the back pasture. The
• 7:54:40
  woods were all gloried through with sunset and the warm splendor of it streaming down
• 7:54:44
  through the hill gaps In the west. Matthew walked slowly with bent head.
• 7:54:48
  Anne tall and erect suited, her springing step to his. You've been working
• 7:54:52
  too hard to day, Matthew, she said, reproachfully. Why don't you
• 7:54:56
  take things easier? Well, now I can't see to, said Matthew,
• 7:55:00
  as he opened the yard gate to let the cows through. It's only that
• 7:55:03
  I'm getting old, Anne, and keep forgetting it. Well, well,
• 7:55:07
  I've always worked pretty hard, and i'd rather drop in harness. If I
• 7:55:11
  had been the boy you sent for, said Anne wistfully. I'd be able
• 7:55:14
  to help you so much now and spare you in a hundred ways. I
• 7:55:18
  could find it in my heart to wish I had been just for that.
• 7:55:21
  Well, now, i'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne,
• 7:55:23
  said Matthew, patting her hand. Just mind you that rather than a dozen
• 7:55:27
  boys. Well, now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the
• 7:55:32
  Avery scholarship, was it. It was a girl, My girl, My
• 7:55:34
  girl that I'm proud of. He smiled his shy smile at her as he
• 7:55:38
  went into the yard. Anne took the memory of it with her when she
• 7:55:41
  went to her room that night, and sat for a long while at her
• 7:55:45
  open window, thinking of the past and dreaming of the future. Outside,
• 7:55:49
  the snow Queen was mistily white in the moonshine. The frogs were singing in
• 7:55:53
  the marsh beyond orchard slope. Anne always remembered the silvery, peaceful beauty and
• 7:55:59
  fragrant calm that night. It was the last night before sorrow touched her life.
• 7:56:03
  And no life is ever quite the same again when once that cold,
• 7:56:07
  sanctifying touch has been laid upon it. End of chapter thirty six, Chapter
• 7:56:12
  thirty seven, The Reaper whose name is Death. Matthew, Matthew, what
• 7:56:18
  is the matter? Matthew? Are you sick? It was Marilla who spoke
• 7:56:22
  alarm in every jerky word. Anne came through the hall, her hands full
• 7:56:26
  of white narcissus. It was long before Anne could love the sight or odor
• 7:56:30
  of white narcissus again, in time to hear her and to see Matthew standing
• 7:56:34
  in the porch doorway, a folded paper in his hand, and his face
• 7:56:37
  strangely drawn and gray. Anne dropped her flowers and sprang across the kitchen to
• 7:56:41
  him at the same moment as Marilla. They were both too late. Before
• 7:56:45
  they could reach him, Matthew had fallen across the threshold. He's fainted,
• 7:56:49
  gasped Marilla. Anne. Run for Martin, quick, quick, he's at
• 7:56:52
  the barn. Martin, the hired man, who had just driven home from
• 7:56:56
  the post office, started at once for the doctor, calling at or should
• 7:57:00
  slope on his way to send mister and missus Barry over. Missus Lynde,
• 7:57:03
  who was there on an errand, came too. They found Anne and Marilla
• 7:57:07
  distractedly trying to restore Matthew to consciousness. Missus Lynde pushed them gently aside,
• 7:57:11
  tried his pulse, and then laid her ear over his heart. She looked
• 7:57:15
  at their anxious faces sorrowfully, and the tears came into her eyes. Oh,
• 7:57:19
  Marilla, she said gravely, I don't think we can do anything for
• 7:57:23
  him. Missus Lynde, you don't think you can't think Matthew is is.
• 7:57:30
  Anne could not say the dreadful word. She turned sick and pallid. Child.
• 7:57:34
  Yes, I'm afraid of it. Look at his face when you've seen
• 7:57:37
  that look as often as I have, you'll know what it means. Anne
• 7:57:41
  looked at the still face, and there beheld the seal of the great presence.
• 7:57:45
  When the doctor came, he said that death had been instantaneous and probably
• 7:57:48
  painless, caused in all likelihood by some sudden shock. The secret of the
• 7:57:53
  shock was discovered to be in the paper Matthew had held, and which Martin
• 7:57:56
  had brought from the post office that morning. It can attained an account of
• 7:58:00
  the failure of the abbey bank. The news spread quickly through Avonlea, and
• 7:58:04
  all day friends and neighbors thronged green Gables and came and went on errands of
• 7:58:08
  kindness for the dead and living. For the first time, shy quiet,
• 7:58:12
  Matthew Cuthbert was a person of central importance. The white majesty of death had
• 7:58:18
  fallen on him and set him apart as one crowned. When the calm night
• 7:58:22
  came softly down over green Gables, the old house was hushed and tranquil.
• 7:58:27
  In the parlor lay Matthew Cuthbert in his coffin, his long gray hair framing
• 7:58:32
  his placid face, on which there was a little kindly smile as if he
• 7:58:36
  but slept dreaming pleasant dreams. There were flowers about him, sweet old fashioned
• 7:58:41
  flowers, which his mother had planted in the homestead garden in her bridal days,
• 7:58:45
  and for which Matthew had always had a secret, wordless love. Anne
• 7:58:49
  had gathered them and brought them to him, her anguished, tearless eyes burning
• 7:58:53
  in her white face. It was the last thing she could do for him.
• 7:58:57
  The Barrys and missus Lee stayed with them that night. Diana, going
• 7:59:02
  to the east gable where Anne was standing at her windows, said gently,
• 7:59:06
  Anne, dear, would you like to have me sleep with you tonight?
• 7:59:10
  Thank you? Diana. Anne looked earnestly into her friend's face. I think
• 7:59:15
  you won't misunderstand me when I say I want to be alone. I'm not
• 7:59:18
  afraid. I haven't been alone one minute since it happened, and I want
• 7:59:22
  to be I want to be quite silent and quiet and try to realize it.
• 7:59:27
  I can't realize it. Half the time, it seems to me that
• 7:59:30
  Matthew can't be dead, and the other half it seems as if he must
• 7:59:34
  have been dead for a long time. And I've had this horrible dull ache
• 7:59:37
  ever since. Diana did not quite understand Marilla's impassioned grief, breaking all the
• 7:59:45
  bounds of natural reserve and life long habit in its stormy rush. She could
• 7:59:48
  comprehend better than Anne's tearless agony. But she went away kindly, leaving Anne
• 7:59:53
  alone to keep her first visual with sorrow. Anne hoped that the tears would
• 7:59:59
  come in solitude. It seemed to her a terrible thing that she could not
• 8:00:03
  shed a tear from Matthew, whom she had loved so much, and who
• 8:00:06
  had been so kind to her, Matthew who had walked with her last evening
• 8:00:10
  at sunset and was now lying in the dim room below with that awful peace
• 8:00:15
  on his brow. But no tears came at first, even when she knelt
• 8:00:18
  by her window in the darkness and prayed, looking up to the stars beyond
• 8:00:22
  the hills. No tears, only the same horrible dull ache of misery that
• 8:00:27
  kept on aching until she fell asleep, worn out with the day's pain and
• 8:00:32
  excitement. In the night, she awakened with the stillness and the darkness about
• 8:00:37
  her, and the recollection of the day came over her like a wave of
• 8:00:41
  sorrow. She could see Matthew's face smiling at her, as he had smiled
• 8:00:44
  when they parted at the gate the last evening. She could hear his voice
• 8:00:48
  saying, my girl, my girl that I am proud of. Then the
• 8:00:52
  tears came, and Anne wept her heart out. Marilla heard her and crept
• 8:00:56
  in to comfort her. There there, don't cry, so dearie. It
• 8:01:00
  can't bring him back. It. It isn't right to cry. So I
• 8:01:06
  knew that to day, but I couldn't help it. Then. He'd always
• 8:01:08
  been such a good, kind brother to me. But God knows best.
• 8:01:12
  Oh, just let me cry, Marilla sobbed. Anne. The tears don't
• 8:01:18
  hurt me like that. Ache did stay here for a little while with me
• 8:01:21
  and keep your arm around me. So I couldn't have Diana stay. She's
• 8:01:26
  good and kind and sweet, but it's not her sorrow. She's outside of
• 8:01:30
  it, and she couldn't come close enough to my heart to help me.
• 8:01:33
  It's our sorrow, yours and mine. Oh Marilla, what will we do
• 8:01:37
  without him? We've got each other. Anne. I don't know what I'd
• 8:01:41
  do if you weren't here, if you'd never come. Oh, Anne,
• 8:01:45
  I know I've been kind of strict and harsh with you. Maybe, but
• 8:01:48
  you mustn't think I didn't love you as well as Matthew did. For all
• 8:01:52
  that, I want to tell you now when I can. It's never been
• 8:01:56
  easy for me to say things out of my heart, but at times like
• 8:01:59
  this it's easier. I love you as dear, as if you were my
• 8:02:02
  own flesh and blood, and you've been my joy and comfort ever since you
• 8:02:04
  came to Green Gables. Two days afterwards, they carried Matthew Cuthbert over his
• 8:02:11
  homestead threshold and away from the fields he had tilled, and the orchards he
• 8:02:15
  had loved, and the trees he had planted. And then Avonlea settled back
• 8:02:19
  to its usual placidity, and even at Green Gables, affairs slipped into their
• 8:02:23
  old groove, and work was done and duties fulfilled with regularity as before,
• 8:02:29
  although always with the aching sense of loss in all familiar things. Anne new
• 8:02:33
  to grief, thought it almost sad that it could be so that they could
• 8:02:37
  go on in the old way without Matthew. She felt something like shame and
• 8:02:41
  remorse when she discovered that the sun rises behind the firs, and the pale
• 8:02:45
  pink buds opening in the garden gave her the old inrush of gladness when she
• 8:02:49
  saw them, that Diana's visits were pleasant to her, and that Diana's merry
• 8:02:53
  words and ways moved her to laughter and smiles. That in brief, the
• 8:02:59
  beautiful world, old of blossom and love and friendship, had lost none of
• 8:03:03
  its power to please her fancy and thrill her heart. That life still called
• 8:03:07
  to her with many insistent voices. It seems like disloyalty to Matthew somehow to
• 8:03:11
  find pleasure in these things now that he is gone, she said wistfully to
• 8:03:15
  missus Allen one evening, when they were together in the man's garden. I
• 8:03:19
  miss him so much all the time, and yet, Missus Allan, the
• 8:03:25
  world in life seem very beautiful and interesting to me. For all to day
• 8:03:29
  Diana said something funny, and I found myself laughing. I thought when it
• 8:03:33
  happened, I could never laugh again, And it somehow seems as if I
• 8:03:36
  oughtn't to. When Matthew was here, he liked to hear you laugh,
• 8:03:41
  and he liked to know that you found pleasure in the pleasant things around you,
• 8:03:44
  said Missus Allan gently. He is just away now, and he likes
• 8:03:48
  to know it. Just the same. I am sure we should not shut
• 8:03:51
  our hearts against the healing influences that nature offers us. But I can understand
• 8:03:56
  your feeling. I think we all experience the same thing, resent the thought
• 8:04:00
  that anything can please us when some one we love is no longer here to
• 8:04:03
  share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful
• 8:04:07
  to our sorrow when we find our interest in the life returning to us.
• 8:04:11
  I was down to the graveyard to plant a rose bush on Matthew's grave this
• 8:04:15
  afternoon, said Anne dreamily. I took a slip of the little white Scotch
• 8:04:18
  rose bush his mother brought out from Scotland long ago. Matthew always liked those
• 8:04:23
  roses the best. They were so small and sweet on their thorny stems.
• 8:04:27
  It made me feel glad that I could plant it by his grave, as
• 8:04:30
  if I were doing something that must please him in taking it there to be
• 8:04:33
  near him. I hope he has roses like them in heaven. Perhaps the
• 8:04:38
  souls of all those little white roses that he has loved so many summers were
• 8:04:42
  all there to meet him. I must go home now. Marilla is all
• 8:04:47
  alone, and she gets lonely at twilight, she will be lonelier still.
• 8:04:51
  I fear when you go away again to college, said missus Allen. Anne
• 8:04:55
  did not reply. She said good night and went slowly back to Green Gables.
• 8:05:00
  Marilla was sitting on the front door steps, and Anne sat down beside
• 8:05:03
  her. The door was opened behind them, held back by a big pink
• 8:05:07
  conk shell with hints of sea sunsets in its smooth inner convolutions. Anne gathered
• 8:05:12
  some sprays of pale yellow honeysuckle and put them in her hair. She liked
• 8:05:17
  the delicious hint of fragrance as some aerial benediction above her every time she moved.
• 8:05:22
  Doctor Spencer was here while you were away, Marilla said. He says
• 8:05:26
  that the specialist will be in town tomorrow, and he insists that I must
• 8:05:29
  go in and have my eyes examined. I suppose i'd better go and have
• 8:05:32
  it over. I'll be more than thankful if the man can give me the
• 8:05:34
  right kind of glasses to suit my eyes. You won't mind staying here alone
• 8:05:38
  while I'm away, will you. Martin will have to drive me in,
• 8:05:41
  and there's ironing and baking to do. I shall be all right. Diana
• 8:05:45
  will come over for company for me. I shall attend to the ironing and
• 8:05:48
  baking beautifully. You needn't fear that I'll starch the handkerchiefs or flavor the cake
• 8:05:52
  with liniment. Marilla laughed, What a girl you were for making mistakes in
• 8:05:56
  them days, Anne, you were always getting into I did used to think
• 8:06:00
  you were possessed. Do you mind the time you dyed your hair? Yes,
• 8:06:04
  indeed, I shall never forget it, smiled Anne, touching the heavy
• 8:06:08
  braid of hair that was round about her shapely head. I laugh a little
• 8:06:12
  now sometimes when I think what a worry my hair used to be to me.
• 8:06:15
  But I don't laugh much because it was a very real trouble then.
• 8:06:19
  I did suffer terribly over my hair and my freckles. My freckles are really
• 8:06:23
  gone, and people are nice enough to tell me my hair is auburn now
• 8:06:27
  all but Josie Pye. She informed me yesterday that she really thought it was
• 8:06:30
  redder than ever, or at least my black dress made it look redder.
• 8:06:34
  And she asked me if people who had red hair ever got used to having
• 8:06:37
  it. Marilla, I've almost decided to give up trying to like Josie Pye.
• 8:06:42
  I've made what I would once have called a heroic effort to like her.
• 8:06:47
  But Josie Pye won't be liked. Josie is a pie, said Marilla
• 8:06:51
  sharply, so she can't help being disagreeable. I suppose people of that kind
• 8:06:55
  serve some useful purpose in society, but I must say I don't know what
• 8:06:59
  it is any more than I know the use of thistles. Is Josie going
• 8:07:03
  to teach? No, she is going back to Queen's next year. So
• 8:07:06
  are Moody Spurgeon and Charlie Sloane. Jane and Ruby are going to teach,
• 8:07:08
  and they have both got schools, Jane at Newbridge and Ruby at some place
• 8:07:12
  up west. Gilbert Blythe is going to teach too, isn't he? Yes?
• 8:07:18
  Briefly, What a nice looking fellow he is, said Marilla absently.
• 8:07:22
  I saw him in church last Sunday and he seemed so tall and manly.
• 8:07:26
  He looks a lot like his father did at the same age. John Blythe
• 8:07:30
  was a nice boy. We used to be real good friends. He and
• 8:07:33
  I. People called him my beau. Anne looked up with swift interest.
• 8:07:37
  Oh Marilla, and what happened? Why didn't you we had a quarrel.
• 8:07:42
  I wouldn't forgive him when he asked me to. I meant to after a
• 8:07:45
  while, but I was sulky and angry, and I wanted to punish him
• 8:07:48
  first. He never came back. The Blithes were all mighty and dependent,
• 8:07:53
  but I always felt rather sorry. I've always kind of wished i'd forgiven him
• 8:07:59
  when I had the chance ance. So you've had a bit of romance in
• 8:08:02
  your life, too, said Anne softly. Yes, I suppose you might
• 8:08:06
  call it that. You wouldn't think so to look at me, would you.
• 8:08:10
  But you never can tell about people from their outsides. Everybody has forgotten
• 8:08:14
  about me and John. I've forgotten myself, But it all came back to
• 8:08:18
  me when I saw Gilbert last Sunday. End of Chapter thirty seven, Chapter
• 8:08:23
  thirty eight, The Bend in the Road. Marilla went to town the next
• 8:08:29
  day and returned in the evening. Anne had gone over to Orchard Slope with
• 8:08:33
  Diana and came back to find Marilla in the kitchen, sitting by the table
• 8:08:37
  with her head leaning on her hand. Something in her dejected attitude struck a
• 8:08:41
  chill to Anne's heart. She had never seen Marilla sit limply inert like that.
• 8:08:45
  Are you very tired, Marilla? Yes, no, I don't know,
• 8:08:51
  said Marilla, wearily, looking up. I suppose I am tired,
• 8:08:55
  but I haven't thought about it. It's not that. Did you see the
• 8:08:59
  oculist. What did he say? Asked Anne anxiously. Yes, I saw
• 8:09:03
  him. He examined my eyes. He says that if I give up all
• 8:09:07
  reading and sewing entirely, and any kind of work that strains the eyes,
• 8:09:11
  and if I'm careful not to cry, and if I wear the glasses he's
• 8:09:15
  given me, he thinks my eyes may not get any worse and my head
• 8:09:18
  aches will be cured. But if I don't, he says, I'll certainly
• 8:09:22
  be stone blind in six months. Blind, Anne, just think of it
• 8:09:27
  for a minute. Anne, after her first quick exclamation of dismay, was
• 8:09:30
  silent. It seemed to her that she could not speak. Then she said,
• 8:09:34
  bravely, but with a catch in her voice, Marilla, don't think
• 8:09:38
  of it. You know he has given you hope. If you are careful,
• 8:09:41
  you won't lose your sight altogether. And if his glasses cure your headaches,
• 8:09:45
  it will be a great thing. I don't call it much hope,
• 8:09:48
  said Marilla, bitterly. What am I to live for? If I can't
• 8:09:52
  read, or sew or do anything like that, I might as well be
• 8:09:56
  blind or dead. And as for crying, I can't help them when I
• 8:10:00
  get lonesome. But there it's no good talking about it. If you'll get
• 8:10:04
  me a cup of tea, I'll be thankful. I'm about done out.
• 8:10:07
  Don't say anything about this to anyone for a spell yet. Anyway, I
• 8:10:11
  can't bear that folks should come here to question and sympathize and talk about it.
• 8:10:17
  When Marilla had eaten her lunch, Anne persuaded her to go to bed.
• 8:10:19
  Then Anne went herself to the east gable and sat down by her window
• 8:10:23
  in the darkness, alone with her tears and her heaviness of heart. How
• 8:10:27
  sadly things had changed since she had sat here the night after coming home.
• 8:10:32
  Then she had been full of hope and joy, and the future had looked
• 8:10:34
  rosy with promise. Anne felt as if she had lived years since then.
• 8:10:40
  But before she went to bed there was a smile on her lips and peace
• 8:10:42
  in her heart. She had looked her duty courageously in the face and found
• 8:10:47
  it a friend, as duty ever is when we meet it frankly one afternoon.
• 8:10:52
  A few days later, Marilla came slowly in from the front yard,
• 8:10:55
  where she had been talking to a caller, a man whom Anne knew by
• 8:10:57
  sight as Saddler from Carmity. Anne wondered what he could have been saying to
• 8:11:02
  bring that look to Marilla's face. What did mister Sadler want Marilla. Marilla
• 8:11:07
  sat down by the window and looked at Anne. There were tears in her
• 8:11:10
  eyes and defiance of the Oculus prohibition, and her voice broke as she said,
• 8:11:15
  he heard that I was going to sell green Gables, and he wants
• 8:11:18
  to buy it. Buy it, Buy green Gables. Anne wondered if she
• 8:11:22
  had heard aright. Oh, Marilla, you don't mean to sell green Gables.
• 8:11:26
  Anne. I don't know what else is to be done. I've thought
• 8:11:30
  it all over. If my eyes were strong, I could stay here and
• 8:11:33
  make out to look after things and manage with a good hired man. But
• 8:11:37
  as it is, I can't. I may lose my sight altogether, and
• 8:11:41
  anyway I'll not be fit to run things. Oh. I never thought i'd
• 8:11:45
  live to see the day when I'd have to sell my home. But things
• 8:11:48
  would only get behind worse and worse all the time till nobody would want to
• 8:11:51
  buy it. Every cent of our money went in that bank, and there's
• 8:11:55
  some notes Matthew gave last fall to pay missus. Lynde advises me to sell
• 8:12:00
  the farm and board somewhere with her. I suppose it won't bring much.
• 8:12:03
  It's small and the buildings are old, but it'll be enough for me to
• 8:12:07
  live on. I reckon. I'm thankful you're provided for with that scholarship.
• 8:12:11
  Anne. I'm sorry you won't have a home to come to in your vacations,
• 8:12:15
  that's all. But I suppose you'll manage somehow. Marilla broke down and
• 8:12:19
  wept bitterly. You mustn't sell green Gables, said Anne resolutely. Oh Anne,
• 8:12:26
  I wish I didn't have to. But you can see for yourself.
• 8:12:29
  I can't stay here alone. I'd go crazy with trouble and loneliness, and
• 8:12:33
  my sight would go I know it would. You won't have to stay here
• 8:12:37
  alone, Marilla. I'll be with you. I'm not going to Redmond.
• 8:12:41
  Not going to Redmond. Marilla lifted her worn face from her hands and looked
• 8:12:45
  at Anne. Why what do you mean? Just what I say? I'm
• 8:12:51
  not going to take the scholarship. I decided so the night after you came
• 8:12:53
  home from town. You surely don't think I could leave you alone in your
• 8:12:57
  trouble, Marilla, After all you you've done for me, I've been thinking
• 8:13:02
  and planning. Let me tell you my plans. Mister Barry wants to rent
• 8:13:06
  the farm for next year, so you won't have any bother over that.
• 8:13:08
  And I'm going to teach. I've applied for the school here, but I
• 8:13:11
  don't expect to get it for I understand the trustees have promised her to Gilbert
• 8:13:15
  Blyfe. But I can have the Carmody school. Mister Blair told me so
• 8:13:18
  last night at the store. Of course, that won't be quite as nice
• 8:13:22
  or convenient as if I had the Avonlea school. But I can board home
• 8:13:25
  and drive myself over to carmodyan back in the warm weather at least, and
• 8:13:29
  even in winter I can come home Fridays. We'll keep a horse for that.
• 8:13:33
  Oh. I have it all planned out, Marilla, and I'll read
• 8:13:36
  to you and keep you cheered up. You shan't be dull or lonesome,
• 8:13:40
  and will be real cozy and happy here together. You and I, Marilla
• 8:13:44
  had listened like a woman in a dream. Oh, Anne, I could
• 8:13:48
  get on real well if you were here, I know, but I can't
• 8:13:51
  let you sacrifice yourself so for me it would be terrible nonsense. Anne laughed
• 8:13:56
  merrily. There is no sacrifice. Nothing thing could be worse than giving up
• 8:14:00
  green Gables. Nothing could hurt me more. We must keep the dear old
• 8:14:04
  place. My mind is quite made up, Marilla. I'm not going to
• 8:14:07
  Redmond, and I am going to stay here and teach. Don't you worry
• 8:14:11
  about me a bit but your ambitions and I'm just as ambitious as ever,
• 8:14:17
  Only I've changed the object of my ambitions. I'm going to be a good
• 8:14:21
  teacher, and I'm going to save your eyesight. Besides, I mean to
• 8:14:25
  study at home here and take a little college course all by myself. Oh.
• 8:14:29
  I've dozens of plans, Marilla. I've been thinking them out for a
• 8:14:32
  week. I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will
• 8:14:34
  give its best to me in return. When I left Queen's, my future
• 8:14:38
  seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could
• 8:14:41
  see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it.
• 8:14:45
  I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe
• 8:14:48
  that the best does. It has a fascination of its own. That bend,
• 8:14:52
  Marilla, I wonder how the road beyond it goes. What there is
• 8:14:56
  of green glory and soft checkered light and shadows, What a new landscapes,
• 8:15:00
  what new beauties, what curves and hills and valleys further on? I don't
• 8:15:06
  feel as if I ought to let you give it up, said Marilla,
• 8:15:08
  referring to the scholarship. But you can't prevent me. I'm sixteen and a
• 8:15:12
  half, obstinate as a mule, as missus Lynde once told me, laughed
• 8:15:15
  Anne. Oh Marilla, don't you go pitying me. I don't like to
• 8:15:19
  be pitied, and there is no need for it. I'm heart glad over
• 8:15:22
  the very thought of staying at dear Green Gables. Nobody could love it as
• 8:15:26
  you and I do, so we must keep it. You blessed girl,
• 8:15:30
  said Marilla, yielding. I feel as if you'd given me new life.
• 8:15:34
  I guess I ought to stick out and make you go to college, but
• 8:15:37
  I know I can't, so I ain't gonna try. I'll make it up
• 8:15:41
  to you, though, Anne, When it became noised abroad in Avonlea that
• 8:15:45
  Anne Shirley had given up the idea of going to college and intended to stay
• 8:15:49
  home and teach. There was a good deal of discussion over it. Most
• 8:15:52
  of the good folks, not knowing about Marilla's eyes, thought she was foolish.
• 8:15:57
  Missus Allen did not. She told Anne so in approving words. It
• 8:16:00
  brought tears of pleasure to the girl's eyes. Neither did good Missus Lynde.
• 8:16:04
  She came up one evening and found Anne and Marilla sitting at the front door
• 8:16:08
  in the warm, scented summer dusk. They liked to sit there when the
• 8:16:11
  twilight came down, and the white moths flew about in the garden and the
• 8:16:15
  odor of mint filled the dewy air. Missus Rachel deposited her substantial person upon
• 8:16:21
  the stone bench by the door, behind which grew a row of tall,
• 8:16:23
  pink and yellow hollyhocks. With a long breath of mingled weariness and relief,
• 8:16:30
  I declare, I'm getting glad to sit down. I've been on my feet
• 8:16:33
  all day, and two hundred pounds is a good bit for two feet to
• 8:16:36
  carry round. It's a great blessing not to be fat, Marilla. I
• 8:16:40
  hope you appreciate it. Well. Anne, I hear you've given up your
• 8:16:44
  notion of going to college. I was real glad to hear it. You've
• 8:16:47
  got as much education now as a woman can be comfortable with. I don't
• 8:16:51
  believe in girls going to college with the men and cramming their heads full of
• 8:16:53
  Latin and Greek and all that nonsense. But I'm going to study Latin and
• 8:16:57
  Greek just the same, Missus Lynde, said Anne, laughing. I am
• 8:17:02
  going to take my art's course right here at Green Gables and study everything that
• 8:17:04
  I would at college. Missus Lynde lifted her hands in holy horror. Anne,
• 8:17:10
  surely you'll kill yourself, not a bit of it. I shall thrive
• 8:17:14
  on it. Oh. I'm not going to overdo things, as Josiah Allen's
• 8:17:18
  wife says. I shall be medium, but I'll have lots of spare time
• 8:17:22
  in the long winter evenings, and I've no vocation for fancy work. I'm
• 8:17:26
  going to teach over at Carmody. You know, I don't know it.
• 8:17:29
  I guess you're going to teach right here in Avonlea. The trustees have decided
• 8:17:32
  to give you the school, missus Lynde, cried Anne, springing to her
• 8:17:37
  feet in surprise. Why. I thought they had promised it to Gilbert life.
• 8:17:40
  So they did. But as soon as Gilbert heard that you had applied
• 8:17:42
  for it, he went to them they had a business meeting at the school
• 8:17:45
  last night, you know, and told them that he withdrew his application and
• 8:17:48
  suggested that they accept yours. He said he was going to teach at White
• 8:17:52
  Sands. Of course he knew how much you wanted to stay with Marilla,
• 8:17:56
  and I must say I think it was real kind and thoughtful in him,
• 8:17:59
  that's why. But real self sacrificing too, for he'll have his board to
• 8:18:03
  pay at White Sands, and everybody knows he's got to earn his own way
• 8:18:06
  through college. So the trustees decided to take you. I was tickled to
• 8:18:08
  death when Thomas came home and told me. I don't feel that I ought
• 8:18:12
  to take it, murmured Anne. I mean, I don't think I ought
• 8:18:17
  to let Gilbert make such a sacrifice for it for me. I guess you
• 8:18:21
  can't prevent him now. He signed papers with the White Sands trustees, so
• 8:18:25
  it wouldn't do him any good now if you were to refuse, of course
• 8:18:29
  you'll take the school. You'll get along all right, now that there are
• 8:18:30
  no pies coming. Josie was the last of them, and a good thing
• 8:18:33
  she was. That's what. There's been some pie or other going to Avonlea
• 8:18:37
  school for the last twenty years. And I guess their mission in life was
• 8:18:41
  to keep school teachers reminded that Earth isn't their home. Bless my heart,
• 8:18:45
  what does all that winking and blinking at the barry gable mean? Diana is
• 8:18:49
  signaling for me to go over, laughed Anne. You know we keep up
• 8:18:52
  the old custom. Excuse me while I run over and see what she wants.
• 8:18:56
  Anne ran down the clover slope like a deer and disappeared in the furry
• 8:19:00
  shadows of the haunted wood. Missus Lynde looked after her indulgently. There's a
• 8:19:04
  good deal of the child about her, yet in some ways there's a good
• 8:19:08
  deal more of the woman about her and others, retorted Marilla, with a
• 8:19:11
  momentary return of her old crispness. But crispness was no longer Marilla's distinguishing characteristic,
• 8:19:18
  As missus Lynde told her Thomas that night. Marilla Cuthbert has got mellow.
• 8:19:22
  That's what. Anne went to the little Avonlea graveyard the next evening to
• 8:19:26
  put fresh flowers on Matthew's grave and water the Scotch rose bush. She lingered
• 8:19:32
  there until dusk, liking the peace and calm of the little place, with
• 8:19:36
  its poplars, whose rustle was like low friendly speech, and its whispering grasses
• 8:19:40
  growing at will among the graves. When she finally left it and walked down
• 8:19:44
  the long hill that sloped the lake of Shining Waters, it was past sunset,
• 8:19:48
  and all Avonlea lay before her in a dream like afterlight, a haunt
• 8:19:52
  of ancient peace. There was a freshness in the air, as of a
• 8:19:56
  wind that had blown over honey sweet fields of clover. Home lights twinkled out
• 8:20:00
  here and there among the homestead trees. Beyond lay the sea, misty and
• 8:20:04
  purple, with its haunting, unceasing murmur. The west was a glory of
• 8:20:10
  soft, mingled hues, and the pond reflected them all in still softer shadings.
• 8:20:15
  The beauty of it all thrilled Anne's heart, and she gratefully opened the
• 8:20:18
  gates of her soul to it, dear old world. She murmured, you
• 8:20:22
  are very lovely and I am glad to be alive in you. Half Way
• 8:20:27
  down the hill, a tall lad came whistling out of a gate before the
• 8:20:30
  Blithe homestead. It was Gilbert, and the whistle died on his lips as
• 8:20:34
  he recognized Anne. He lifted his cap courteously, but he would have passed
• 8:20:38
  on in silence if Anne had not stopped and held out her hand Gilbert.
• 8:20:44
  She said, with scarlet cheeks, I want to thank you for giving up
• 8:20:47
  the school for me. It was very good of you, and I want
• 8:20:49
  you to know that I appreciate it. Gilbert took the offered hand eagerly.
• 8:20:55
  It wasn't particularly good of me at all. Anne, I was pleased to
• 8:20:57
  be able to do you some small service. Are we going to be friends
• 8:21:00
  after this? Have you really forgiven me my old fault? Anne laughed and
• 8:21:06
  tried unsuccessfully to withdraw her hand. I forgave you that day by the pond
• 8:21:10
  landing, although I didn't know it. What a stubborn little goose I was
• 8:21:14
  I've been. I may as well make a complete confession. I've been sorry
• 8:21:18
  ever since. We are going to be the best of friends, said Gilbert
• 8:21:22
  jubilantly. We were born to be good friends. Anne. You've thwarted destiny
• 8:21:26
  enough. I know we can help each other in many ways. You are
• 8:21:30
  going to keep up your studies, aren't you? So am I come,
• 8:21:33
  I'm going to walk home with you. Marilla looked curiously at Anne when the
• 8:21:37
  latter entered the kitchen. Who was that came up the lane with you,
• 8:21:41
  Anne, Gilbert blythe answered Anne, vexed to find herself blushing. I met
• 8:21:45
  him on Berry's Hill. I didn't think you and Gilbert were such good friends
• 8:21:49
  that you'd stand for half an hour at the gate talking to him, said
• 8:21:52
  Marilla, with a dry smile. We haven't been We've been good enemies,
• 8:21:57
  but we have decided that it will be much more sensible to be good friends
• 8:22:00
  in the future. Were we really there half an hour? It seemed just
• 8:22:04
  a few minutes. But you see, we have five years lost conversations to
• 8:22:08
  catch up with. Marilla. Anne sat long at her window that night,
• 8:22:12
  companioned by a glad content. The wind purred softly in the cherry boughs,
• 8:22:18
  and the mint breaths came up to her. The stars twinkled over the pointed
• 8:22:21
  firs in the hollow, and Diana's light gleamed through the old gap. Anne's
• 8:22:26
  horizons had closed in since the night she had sat there after coming home from
• 8:22:30
  Queen's. But if the path set before her feet was to be narrow,
• 8:22:33
  she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joy of
• 8:22:37
  sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers. Nothing could
• 8:22:41
  rob her of her birthright of fancy, or her ideal world of dreams.
• 8:22:47
  And there was always the bend in the road. God's in his heaven.
• 8:22:51
  All's right with the world, whispered Anne softly, end of Chapter thirty eight.