produced by an anonymous volunteer and david widger

anne of avonlea

by lucy maud montgomery

to

my former teacher hattie gordon smith in grateful remembrance of her sympathy and encouragement .

whittier

i

an irate neighbor

this pleasant vision was shattered by a most unpleasant interruption .

mr harrison was their new righthand neighbor and she had never met him before , although she had seen him once or twice .

mrs rachel was an outspoken lady , as those of you who may have already made her acquaintance will remember .

mr harrison was certainly different from other people . ..y ..y and that is the essential characteristic of a crank , as everybody knows .

in the first place he kept house for himself and had publicly stated that he wanted no fools of women around his diggings .

feminine avonlea took its revenge by the gruesome tales it related about his house-keeping and cooking .

he had hired little john henry carter of white sands and john henry started the stories .

for one thing , there was never any stated time for meals in the harrison establishment .

as for washing dishes , mr harrison never made any pretence of doing it unless a rainy sunday came .

then he went to work and washed them all at once in the rainwater hogshead , and left them to drain dry .

again , mr harrison was " close . "

i had to hold up my skirts as i walked across it . "

finally , mr harrison kept a parrot called ginger .

nobody in avonlea had ever kept a parrot before ; consequently that proceeding was considered barely respectable .

and such a parrot !

if you took john henry carter 's word for it , never was such an unholy bird .

it swore terribly .

mrs carter would have taken john henry away at once if she had been sure she could get another place for him .

mrs carter showed everybody the mark when the luckless john henry went home on sundays .

all these things flashed through anne 's mind as mr harrison stood , quite speechless with wrath apparently , before her .

all at once mr harrison found his voice .

" i 'm not going to put up with this , " he spluttered , " not a day longer , do you hear , miss .

bless my soul , this is the third time , miss . . . the third time !

patience has ceased to be a virtue , miss .

that is what i 'm here about , miss . "

" will you explain what the trouble is ? " asked anne , in her most dignified manner .

" trouble , is it ?

bless my soul , trouble enough , i should think .

the trouble is , miss , that i found that jersey cow of your aunt 's in my oats again , not half an hour ago .

the third time , mark you .

i found her in last tuesday and i found her in yesterday .

i came here and told your aunt not to let it occur again .

she has let it occur again .

where 's your aunt , miss ?

matthew gave her to me three years ago when she was a little calf and he bought her from mr bell . "

" sorry , miss !

sorry isn't going to help matters any .

" my fence is all right , " snapped mr harrison , angrier than ever at this carrying of the war into the enemy 's country .

" the jail fence couldn't keep a demon of a cow like that out .

something at that moment was red besides anne 's hair . ..y ..y which had always been a tender point with her .

" i 'd rather have red hair than none at all , except a little fringe round my ears , " she flashed .

the shot told , for mr harrison was really very sensitive about his bald head .

his anger choked him up again and he could only glare speechlessly at anne , who recovered her temper and followed up her advantage .

" i can make allowance for you , mr harrison , because i have an imagination .

i promise you that dolly shall never break into your oats again .

i give you my word of honor on that point . "

grievously disturbed in mind , anne marched across the yard and shut the naughty jersey up in the milking pen .

" she can't possibly get out of that unless she tears the fence down , " she reflected .

" she looks pretty quiet now .

i daresay she has sickened herself on those oats .

i believe it is true about mr harrison being a crank .

certainly there 's nothing of the kindred spirit about him . "

anne had always a weather eye open for kindred spirits .

marilla cuthbert was driving into the yard as anne returned from the house , and the latter flew to get tea ready .

they discussed the matter at the tea table .

" i 'll be glad when the auction is over , " said marilla .

" it is too much responsibility having so much stock about the place and nobody but that unreliable martin to look after them .

i don't know how many aunts he has got , i am sure .

that 's the fourth that 's died since he hired here a year ago .

i 'll be more than thankful when the crop is in and mr barry takes over the farm .

i declare , it is a world of trouble , as rachel says .

here 's poor mary keith dying and what is to become of those two children of hers is more than i know .

she has a brother in british columbia and she has written to him about them , but she hasn't heard from him yet . "

" what are the children like ?

how old are they ? "

" six past . ..y ..y they 're twins . "

" oh , i 've always been especially interested in twins ever since mrs hammond had so many , " said anne eagerly .

" are they pretty ? "

" goodness , you couldn't tell . ..y ..y they were too dirty .

davy had been out making mud pies and dora went out to call him in .

mary said dora was really a very good child but that davy was full of mischief .

he has never had any bringing up you might say .

his father died when he was a baby and mary has been sick almost ever since . "

" i 'm always sorry for children that have no bringing up , " said anne soberly .

" you know i hadn't any till you took me in hand .

i hope their uncle will look after them .

just what relation is mrs keith to you ? "

" mary ?

none in the world .

it was her husband . ..y ..y he was our third cousin .

there 's mrs lynde coming through the yard .

i thought she 'd be up to hear about mary . "

" don't tell her about mr harrison and the cow , " implored anne .

marilla promised ; but the promise was quite unnecessary , for mrs lynde was no sooner fairly seated than she said ,

" i saw mr harrison chasing your jersey out of his oats today when i was coming home from carmody .

i thought he looked pretty mad .

did he make much of a rumpus ? "

anne and marilla furtively exchanged amused smiles .

few things in avonlea ever escaped mrs lynde .

it was only that morning anne had said ,

" i believe he did , " admitted marilla .

" i was away .

he gave anne a piece of his mind . "

" i think he is a very disagreeable man , " said anne , with a resentful toss of her ruddy head .

" you never said a truer word , " said mrs rachel solemnly .

" i knew there 'd be trouble when robert bell sold his place to a new brunswick man , that 's what .

i don't know what avonlea is coming to , with so many strange people rushing into it .

it 'll soon not be safe to go to sleep in our beds . "

" why , what other strangers are coming in ? " asked marilla .

" haven't you heard ?

well , there 's a family of donnells , for one thing .

they 've rented peter sloane 's old house .

peter has hired the man to run his mill .

they belong down east and nobody knows anything about them .

then that shiftless timothy cotton family are going to move up from white sands and they 'll simply be a burden on the public .

she washes her dishes sitting down .

mrs george pye has taken her husband 's orphan nephew , anthony pye .

he 'll be going to school to you , anne , so you may expect trouble , that's what .

and you 'll have another strange pupil , too .

paul irving is coming from the states to live with his grandmother .

you remember his father , marilla . . .

stephen irving , him that jilted lavendar lewis over at grafton ? "

" i don't think he jilted her .

there was a quarrel . . .

i suppose there was blame on both sides . "

stephen went off to the states and went into business with his uncle and married a yankee .

he 's never been home since , though his mother has been up to see him once or twice .

his wife died two years ago and he 's sending the boy home to his mother for a spell .

he 's ten years old and i don't know if he 'll be a very desirable pupil .

you can never tell about those yankees . "

they might be good people , of course ; but you were on the safe side in doubting it .

she had a special prejudice against " yankees . "

steve irving was the nicest boy that was ever raised in these parts , though some people did call him proud .

i should think mrs irving would be very glad to have the child .

she has been very lonesome since her husband died . "

mrs rachel 's opinions concerning any person , place , or thing , were always warranted to wear .

" what 's this i hear about your going to start up a village improvement society , anne ? "

" i was just talking it over with some of the girls and boys at the last debating club , " said anne , flushing .

" they thought it would be rather nice . ..y ..y and so do mr and mrs. allan .

lots of villages have them now . "

" well , you 'll get into no end of hot water if you do .

better leave it alone , anne , that's what .

people don't like being improved . "

" oh , we are not going to try to improve the people .

it is avonlea itself .

there are lots of things which might be done to make it prettier .

" it certainly would , " admitted mrs rachel .

" that old ruin has been an eyesore to the settlement for years .

but there , i know you 'll go ahead with it if you 've set your mind on it .

you were always one to carry a thing through somehow . "

something about the firm outlines of anne 's lips told that mrs rachel was not far astray in this estimate .

anne 's heart was bent on forming the improvement society .

as for what the " improvements " were to be , nobody had any very clear idea except anne and gilbert .

they had talked them over and planned them out until an ideal avonlea existed in their minds , if nowhere else .

mrs rachel had still another item of news .

" they 've given the carmody school to a priscilla grant .

didn't you go to queen 's with a girl of that name , anne ? "

" yes , indeed .

priscilla to teach at carmody !

ii

selling in haste and repenting at leisure

anne drove over to carmody on a shopping expedition the next afternoon and took diana barry with her .

father says we 'll never succeed in doing that .

levi boulter is too mean to spend the time it would take . "

" we must do our best and be content to go slowly at first .

we can't expect to improve everything all at once .

we 'll have to educate public sentiment first , of course . "

" i thought of something last night that we could do , anne .

you know that three-cornered piece of ground where the roads from carmody and newbridge and white sands meet ?

" splendid , " agreed anne gaily .

" and have a rustic seat put under the birches .

and when spring comes we 'll have a flower-bed made in the middle of it and plant geraniums . "

" i begin to see what you mean by educating public sentiment , anne .

there 's the old boulter house now .

did you ever see such a rookery ?

and perched right close to the road too .

an old house with its windows gone always makes me think of something dead with its eyes picked out . "

" i think an old , deserted house is such a sad sight , " said anne dreamily .

" it always seems to me to be thinking about its past and mourning for its old-time joys .

how lonely and sorrowful it must feel !

diana shook her head .

" i never imagine things like that about places now , anne .

don't you remember how cross mother and marilla were when we imagined ghosts into the haunted wood ?

besides , those children aren't dead .

they 're all grown up and doing well . ..y ..y and one of them is a butcher .

and flowers and songs couldn't have ghosts anyhow . "

anne smothered a little sigh .

she loved diana dearly and they had always been good comrades .

but she had long ago learned that when she wandered into the realm of fancy she must go alone .

the way to it was by an enchanted path where not even her dearest might follow her .

but just as they turned into the cuthbert lane anne saw something that spoiled the beauty of the landscape for her .

anne dropped the reins and stood up with a tightening of the lips that boded no good to the predatory quadruped .

" anne , come back , " shrieked the latter , as soon as she found her voice .

" you 'll ruin your dress in that wet grain . ..y ..y ruin it .

she doesn't hear me !

well , she 'll never get that cow out by herself .

i must go and help her , of course . "

anne was charging through the grain like a mad thing .

she could run faster than anne , who was hampered by her clinging and drenched skirt , and soon overtook her .

behind them they left a trail that would break mr harrison 's heart when he should see it .

" anne , for mercy 's sake , stop , " panted poor diana .

" i 'm right out of breath and you are wet to the skin . "

" i must . ..y ..y get . . . that cow . . . out . . . before . . .

mr harrison . ..y ..y sees her , " gasped anne .

but the jersey cow appeared to see no good reason for being hustled out of her luscious browsing ground .

no sooner had the two breathless girls got near her than she turned and bolted squarely for the opposite corner of the field .

" head her off , " screamed anne .

" run , diana , run . "

diana did run .

anne tried to , and the wicked jersey went around the field as if she were possessed .

privately , diana thought she was .

it was fully ten minutes before they headed her off and drove her through the corner gap into the cuthbert lane .

there is no denying that anne was in anything but an angelic temper at that precise moment .

" i guess you 'd better have sold me that cow when i wanted to buy her last week , anne , " chuckled mr shearer .

" i 'll sell her to you now , if you want her , " said her flushed and disheveled owner .

" you may have her this very minute . "

" done .

i 'll give you twenty for her as i offered before , and jim here can drive her right over to carmody .

she 'll go to town with the rest of the shipment this evening .

mr reed of brighton wants a jersey cow . "

" what will marilla say ? " asked diana .

" oh , she won't care .

dolly was my own cow and it isn't likely she 'd bring more than twenty dollars at the auction .

well , it has taught me a lesson not to give my word of honor about cows .

a cow that could jump over or break through our milk-pen fence couldn't be trusted anywhere . "

" i suppose it 's just as well she 's gone , though you do do things in a dreadful headlong fashion , anne .

i don't see how she got out of the pen , though .

she must have broken some of the boards off . "

" i didn't think of looking , " said anne , " but i 'll go and see now .

martin has never come back yet .

perhaps some more of his aunts have died .

i think it 's something like mr peter sloane and the octogenarians .

what is an octogenarian , peter ? '

that 's the way with martin 's aunts . "

" martin 's just like all the rest of those french , " said marilla in disgust .

" you can't depend on them for a day . "

marilla was looking over anne 's carmody purchases when she heard a shrill shriek in the barnyard .

a minute later anne dashed into the kitchen , wringing her hands .

" anne shirley , what 's the matter now ? "

" oh , marilla , whatever shall i do ?

this is terrible .

and it 's all my fault .

oh , will i ever learn to stop and reflect a little before doing reckless things ?

mrs lynde always told me i would do something dreadful some day , and now i 've done it ! "

" anne , you are the most exasperating girl !

what is it you've done ? "

" sold mr harrison 's jersey cow . ..y ..y the one he bought from mr bell . ..y ..y to mr shearer !

dolly is out in the milking pen this very minute . "

" anne shirley , are you dreaming ? "

" i only wish i were .

there 's no dream about it , though it 's very like a nightmare .

and mr harrison 's cow is in charlottetown by this time .

what can i do ? "

" do ?

there 's nothing to do , child , except go and see mr harrison about it .

we can offer him our jersey in exchange if he doesn't want to take the money .

she is just as good as his . "

" i 'm sure he 'll be awfully cross and disagreeable about it , though , " moaned anne .

" i daresay he will .

he seems to be an irritable sort of a man .

i 'll go and explain to him if you like . "

" no , indeed , i 'm not as mean as that , " exclaimed anne .

" this is all my fault and i 'm certainly not going to let you take my punishment .

i 'll go myself and i 'll go at once .

the sooner it 's over the better , for it will be terribly humiliating . "

poor anne got her hat and her twenty dollars and was passing out when she happened to glance through the open pantry door .

anne had intended it for friday evening , when the youth of avonlea were to meet at green gables to organize the improvement society .

but what were they compared to the justly offended mr harrison ?

she would take it to mr harrison as a peace offering .

" i know now just how people feel who are being led to execution . "

iii

mr harrison at home

mr harrison 's house was an old-fashioned , low-eaved , whitewashed structure , set against a thick spruce grove .

mr harrison himself was sitting on his vineshaded veranda , in his shirt sleeves , enjoying his evening pipe .

when he realized who was coming up the path he sprang suddenly to his feet , bolted into the house , and shut the door .

this was merely the uncomfortable result of his surprise , mingled with a good deal of shame over his outburst of temper the day before .

but it nearly swept the remnant of her courage from anne 's heart .

but mr harrison opened it , smiling sheepishly , and invited her to enter in a tone quite mild and friendly , if somewhat nervous .

no sooner had anne seated herself than ginger exclaimed ,

" bless my soul , what 's that redheaded snippet coming here for ? "

it would be hard to say whose face was the redder , mr harrison 's or anne 's .

" don't you mind that parrot , " said mr harrison , casting a furious glance at ginger .

" he's ..y ..y ..y he 's always talking nonsense .

i got him from my brother who was a sailor .

sailors don't always use the choicest language , and parrots are very imitative birds . "

" so i should think , " said poor anne , the remembrance of her errand quelling her resentment .

she couldn't afford to snub mr harrison under the circumstances , that was certain .

nevertheless , the " redheaded snippet " was not quite so meek as she might otherwise have been .

" i 've come to confess something to you , mr harrison , " she said resolutely .

" it's ..y ..y ..y it 's about . . . that jersey cow . "

" bless my soul , " exclaimed mr harrison nervously , " has she gone and broken into my oats again ?

well , never mind . ..y ..y never mind if she has .

it 's no difference . . . none at all , i . . .

i was too hasty yesterday , that 's a fact .

never mind if she has . "

" oh , if it were only that , " sighed anne .

" but it 's ten times worse .

i don't . . . "

" bless my soul , do you mean to say she 's got into my wheat ? "

" no . ..y ..y no . ..y ..y not the wheat .

but . . . "

" then it 's the cabbages !

she 's broken into my cabbages that i was raising for exhibition , hey ? "

" it 's not the cabbages , mr harrison .

i 'll tell you everything . ..y ..y that is what i came for but please don't interrupt me .

it makes me so nervous .

" i won't say another word , " said mr harrison , and he didn't .

but ginger was not bound by any contract of silence and kept ejaculating , " redheaded snippet " at intervals until anne felt quite wild .

" i shut my jersey cow up in our pen yesterday .

this morning i went to carmody and when i came back i saw a jersey cow in your oats .

diana and i chased her out and you can't imagine what a hard time we had .

i was so dreadfully wet and tired and vexed and mr shearer came by that very minute and offered to buy the cow .

i sold her to him on the spot for twenty dollars .

it was wrong of me .

i should have waited and consulted marilla , of course .

but i 'm dreadfully given to doing things without thinking everybody who knows me will tell you that .

mr shearer took the cow right away to ship her on the afternoon train . "

" redheaded snippet , " quoted ginger in a tone of profound contempt .

ginger shrieked , swore , and otherwise conducted himself in keeping with his reputation , but finding himself left alone , relapsed into sulky silence .

" excuse me and go on , " said mr harrison , sitting down again .

" my brother the sailor never taught that bird any manners . "

" i went home and after tea i went out to the milking pen .

mr harrison , " . . .

" i found my cow still shut up in the pen .

it was your cow i had sold to mr shearer . "

" bless my soul , " exclaimed mr harrison , in blank amazement at this unlooked-for conclusion .

" what a very extraordinary thing ! "

" oh , it isn't in the least extraordinary that i should be getting myself and other people into scrapes , " said anne mournfully .

" i 'm noted for that .

you might suppose i 'd have grown out of it by this time . . .

i 'll be seventeen next march . ..y ..y but it seems that i haven't .

mr harrison , is it too much to hope that you 'll forgive me ?

she 's a very good cow .

and i can't express how sorry i am for it all . "

" tut , tut , " said mr harrison briskly , " don't say another word about it , miss .

it 's of no consequence . ..y ..y no consequence whatever .

accidents will happen .

i 'm too hasty myself sometimes , miss . . . far too hasty .

but i can't help speaking out just what i think and folks must take me as they find me .

if that cow had been in my cabbages now . ..y ..y but never mind , she wasn't , so it 's all right .

i think i 'd rather have your cow in exchange , since you want to be rid of her . "

" oh , thank you , mr harrison .

i 'm so glad you are not vexed .

i was afraid you would be . "

" and i suppose you were scared to death to come here and tell me , after the fuss i made yesterday , hey ?

" so is mrs lynde , " said anne , before she could prevent herself .

" who ?

mrs lynde ?

don't you tell me i 'm like that old gossip , " said mr harrison irritably .

" i'm not . ..y ..y not a bit .

what have you got in that box ? "

" a cake , " said anne archly .

in her relief at mr harrison 's unexpected amiability her spirits soared upward feather-light .

" i brought it over for you . . .

i thought perhaps you didn't have cake very often . "

" i don't , that 's a fact , and i 'm mighty fond of it , too .

i 'm much obliged to you .

it looks good on top .

i hope it 's good all the way through . "

" it is , " said anne , gaily confident .

" i have made cakes in my time that were not , as mrs allan could tell you , but this one is all right .

i made it for the improvement society , but i can make another for them . "

" well , i 'll tell you what , miss , you must help me eat it .

i 'll put the kettle on and we 'll have a cup of tea .

how will that do ? "

" will you let me make the tea ? " said anne dubiously .

mr harrison chuckled .

" i see you haven't much confidence in my ability to make tea .

you 're wrong . . .

i can brew up as good a jorum of tea as you ever drank .

but go ahead yourself .

fortunately it rained last sunday , so there 's plenty of clean dishes . "

anne hopped briskly up and went to work .

she washed the teapot in several waters before she put the tea to steep .

then she swept the stove and set the table , bringing the dishes out of the pantry .

the state of that pantry horrified anne , but she wisely said nothing .

mr harrison told her where to find the bread and butter and a can of peaches .

anne adorned the table with a bouquet from the garden and shut her eyes to the stains on the tablecloth .

she could hardly believe the evidence of her senses .

but ginger 's feelings had been grievously hurt and he rejected all overtures of friendship .

he sat moodily on his perch and ruffled his feathers up until he looked like a mere ball of green and gold .

" my brother the sailor named him .

maybe it had some reference to his temper .

i think a lot of that bird though . ..y ..y you 'd be surprised if you knew how much .

he has his faults of course .

that bird has cost me a good deal one way and another .

some people object to his swearing habits but he can't be broken of them .

i 've tried . ..y ..y other people have tried .

some folks have prejudices against parrots .

silly , ain't it ?

i like them myself .

ginger 's a lot of company to me .

nothing would induce me to give that bird up . ..y ..y nothing in the world , miss . "

mr harrison found out about the improvement society and was disposed to approve of it .

" that 's right .

go ahead .

there 's lots of room for improvement in this settlement . . . and in the people too . "

" oh , i don't know , " flashed anne .

but to hear a practical outsider like mr harrison saying it was an entirely different thing .

" i think avonlea is a lovely place ; and the people in it are very nice , too . "

" i guess you 've got a spice of temper , " commented mr harrison , surveying the flushed cheeks and indignant eyes opposite him .

" it goes with hair like yours , i reckon .

" i like it all the better for them , " said loyal anne .

" i don't like places or people either that haven't any faults .

i think a truly perfect person would be very uninteresting .

mrs milton white says she never met a perfect person , but she 's heard enough about one . ..y ..y her husband 's first wife .

don't you think it must be very uncomfortable to be married to a man whose first wife was perfect ? "

" it would be more uncomfortable to be married to the perfect wife , " declared mr harrison , with a sudden and inexplicable warmth .

" you might run across and talk to me once in a while , " suggested mr harrison when she was leaving .

" ' tisn't far and folks ought to be neighborly .

i 'm kind of interested in that society of yours .

seems to me there'll be some fun in it .

who are you going to tackle first ? "

she rather suspected that mr harrison was making fun of the project .

" redheaded snippet , " croaked ginger mockingly .

mr harrison shook his fist at the parrot .

" you ornery bird , " he muttered , " i almost wish i 'd wrung your neck when my brother the sailor brought you home .

will you never be done getting me into trouble ? "

" it 's a pretty good world , after all , isn't it , marilla ? " concluded anne happily .

" mrs lynde was complaining the other day that it wasn't much of a world .

she said whenever you looked forward to anything pleasant you were sure to be more or less disappointed . ..y ..y perhaps that is true .

but there is a good side to it too .

but all the same , marilla , i shall certainly never again sell a cow before making sure to whom she belongs .

and i do not like parrots ! "

iv

different opinions

jane would go to newbridge and gilbert to white sands .

" you both have the advantage of me , " sighed anne .

but i don't believe a teacher should be cross .

oh , it seems to me such a responsibility ! "

" i guess we 'll get on all right , " said jane comfortably .

jane was not troubled by any aspirations to be an influence for good .

she meant to earn her salary fairly , please the trustees , and get her name on the school inspector 's roll of honor .

further ambitions jane had none .

" the main thing will be to keep order and a teacher has to be a little cross to do that .

if my pupils won't do as i tell them i shall punish them . "

" how ? "

" give them a good whipping , of course . "

" oh , jane , you wouldn't , " cried anne , shocked .

" jane , you couldn't ! "

" indeed , i could and would , if they deserved it , " said jane decidedly .

" i could never whip a child , " said anne with equal decision .

" i don't believe in it at all .

no , if i can't get along without whipping i shall not try to teach school .

there are better ways of managing .

i shall try to win my pupils ' affections and then they will want to do what i tell them . "

" but suppose they don't ? " said practical jane .

" i wouldn't whip them anyhow .

i 'm sure it wouldn't do any good .

oh , don't whip your pupils , jane dear , no matter what they do . "

" what do you think about it , gilbert ? " demanded jane .

" don't you think there are some children who really need a whipping now and then ? "

" don't you think it 's a cruel , barbarous thing to whip a child . . .

any child ? " exclaimed anne , her face flushing with earnestness .

i don't believe in whipping children much .

corporal punishment as a last resort is to be my rule . "

gilbert , having tried to please both sides , succeeded , as is usual and eminently right , in pleasing neither .

jane tossed her head .

" i 'll whip my pupils when they 're naughty .

it 's the shortest and easiest way of convincing them . "

anne gave gilbert a disappointed glance .

" i shall never whip a child , " she repeated firmly .

" i feel sure it isn't either right or necessary . "

" suppose a boy sauced you back when you told him to do something ? " said jane .

" i 'd keep him in after school and talk kindly and firmly to him , " said anne .

" there is some good in every person if you can find it .

it is a teacher 's duty to find and develop it .

that is what our school management professor at queen 's told us , you know .

do you suppose you could find any good in a child by whipping him ?

it 's far more important to influence the children aright than it is even to teach them the three r's , professor rennie says . "

" wouldn't you punish children at all , when they misbehaved ? " asked gilbert .

" oh , yes , i suppose i shall have to , although i know i 'll hate to do it .

but you can keep them in at recess or stand them on the floor or give them lines to write . "

" i suppose you won't punish the girls by making them sit with the boys ? " said jane slyly .

gilbert and anne looked at each other and smiled rather foolishly .

once upon a time , anne had been made to sit with gilbert for punishment and sad and bitter had been the consequences thereof .

" well , time will tell which is the best way , " said jane philosophically as they parted .

when she reached the yard at green gables mrs lynde 's loud , decided tones floated out through the open kitchen window .

her advice is much like pepper , i think . ..y ..y excellent in small quantities but rather scorching in her doses .

i 'll run over and have a chat with mr harrison instead . "

this was not the first time anne had run over and chatted with mr harrison since the notable affair of the jersey cow .

ginger still continued to regard her with suspicion , and never failed to greet her sarcastically as " redheaded snippet . "

mr harrison had tried vainly to break him of the habit by jumping excitedly up whenever he saw anne coming and exclaiming ,

" bless my soul , here 's that pretty little girl again , " or something equally flattering .

but ginger saw through the scheme and scorned it .

anne was never to know how many compliments mr harrison paid her behind her back .

he certainly never paid her any to her face .

" no , indeed , " said anne indignantly .

she was an excellent target for teasing because she always took things so seriously .

" i shall never have a switch in my school , mr harrison .

of course , i shall have to have a pointer , but i shall use it for pointing only . "

" so you mean to strap them instead ?

well , i don't know but you 're right .

a switch stings more at the time but the strap smarts longer , that 's a fact . "

" i shall not use anything of the sort .

i 'm not going to whip my pupils . "

" bless my soul , " exclaimed mr harrison in genuine astonishment , " how do you lay out to keep order then ? "

" i shall govern by affection , mr harrison . "

" it won't do , " said mr harrison , " won't do at all , anne .

' spare the rod and spoil the child . '

" methods have changed since your schooldays , mr harrison . "

" but human nature hasn't .

mark my words , you 'll never manage the young fry unless you keep a rod in pickle for them .

the thing is impossible . "

" you 're pretty stubborn , i reckon , " was mr harrison 's way of putting it .

" well , well , we 'll see .

you 're too young to be teaching anyhow . ..y ..y far too young and childish . "

altogether , anne went to bed that night in a rather pessimistic mood .

anne sipped it patiently , although she could not imagine what good ginger tea would do .

had it been some magic brew , potent to confer age and experience , anne would have swallowed a quart of it without flinching .

" marilla , what if i fail ! "

" you 'll hardly fail completely in one day and there 's plenty more days coming , " said marilla .

v

a full-fledged schoolma'am

she had sat up until nearly twelve the preceding night composing a speech she meant to make to her pupils upon opening the school .

she had revised and improved it painstakingly , and then she had learned it off by heart .

it was a very good speech and had some very fine ideas in it , especially about mutual help and earnest striving after knowledge .

the only trouble was that she could not now remember a word of it .

while the children read their verses anne marshalled her shaky wits into order and looked over the array of little pilgrims to the grownup land .

most of them were , of course , quite well known to her .

anne secretly felt more interest in these ten than in those whose possibilities were already fairly well mapped out to her .

it was a thrilling idea .

sitting by himself at a corner desk was anthony pye .

he had a dark , sullen little face , and was staring at anne with a hostile expression in his black eyes .

anne instantly made up her mind that she would win that boy 's affection and discomfit the pyes utterly .

anne wondered what sort of mother the child had , to send her to school dressed as she was .

she wore a faded pink silk dress , trimmed with a great deal of cotton lace , soiled white kid slippers , and silk stockings .

her sandy hair was tortured into innumerable kinky and unnatural curls , surmounted by a flamboyant bow of pink ribbon bigger than her head .

judging from her expression she was very well satisfied with herself .

she knew paul was ten but he looked no more than eight .

with a quick interchange of smiles anne and paul were fast friends forever before a word had passed between them .

the day went by like a dream .

anne could never clearly recall it afterwards .

it almost seemed as if it were not she who was teaching but somebody else .

she heard classes and worked sums and set copies mechanically .

the children behaved quite well ; only two cases of discipline occurred .

morley andrews was caught driving a pair of trained crickets in the aisle .

anne stood morley on the platform for an hour and ..y ..y ..y which morley felt much more keenly . ..y ..y confiscated his crickets .

the other culprit was anthony pye , who poured the last drops of water from his slate bottle down the back of aurelia clay 's neck .

she wanted all her boys to be gentlemen , she said .

her little lecture was quite kind and touching ; but unfortunately anthony remained absolutely untouched .

he listened to her in silence , with the same sullen expression , and whistled scornfully as he went out .

when school was dismissed and the children had gone anne dropped wearily into her chair .

her head ached and she felt woefully discouraged .

and how terrible it would be to be doing something you didn't like every day for ..y ..y ..y well , say forty years .

" she looked like a head-on collision between a fashion plate and a nightmare . "

her head was surmounted by a huge white chiffon hat , bedecked with three long but rather stringy ostrich feathers .

she wore all the jewelry that could be crowded on one small woman , and a very strong odor of perfume attended her .

" i am mrs donnell . . .

it annoyed me excessively . "

" i 'm sorry , " faltered anne , vainly trying to recollect any incident of the morning connected with the donnell children .

" clarice almira told me that you pronounced our name donnell .

now , miss shirley , the correct pronunciation of our name is donnell . ..y ..y accent on the last syllable .

i hope you 'll remember this in future . "

" i 'll try to , " gasped anne , choking back a wild desire to laugh .

" certainly it is .

and clarice almira also informed me that you call my son jacob . "

" he told me his name was jacob , " protested anne .

" that boy has such plebeian tastes , miss shirley .

when he was born i wanted to call him st clair . ..y ..y it sounds so aristocratic , doesn't it ?

but his father insisted he should be called jacob after his uncle .

i yielded , because uncle jacob was a rich old bachelor .

and what do you think , miss shirley ?

when our innocent boy was five years old uncle jacob actually went and got married and now he has three boys of his own .

did you ever hear of such ingratitude ?

from that day i called my son st . clair and st clair i am determined he shall be called .

his father obstinately continues to call him jacob , and the boy himself has a perfectly unaccountable preference for the vulgar name .

but st clair he is and st clair he shall remain .

you will kindly remember this , miss shirley , will you not ?

thank you .

i told clarice almira that i was sure it was only a misunderstanding and that a word would set it right .

donnell . ..y ..y accent on the last syllable . ..y ..y and st clair . ..y ..y on no account jacob .

you 'll remember ?

thank you . "

when mrs h b donnell had skimmed away anne locked the school door and went home .

at the foot of the hill she found paul irving by the birch path .

he held out to her a cluster of the dainty little wild orchids which avonlea children called " rice lillies . "

" i like you , teacher . "

" you darling , " said anne , taking the fragrant spikes .

she went through the birch path light-footedly , attended by the sweetness of her orchids as by a benediction .

" well , how did you get along ? "

marilla wanted to know .

" ask me that a month later and i may be able to tell you .

i can't now . . .

i don't know myself . . .

i 'm too near it .

my thoughts feel as if they had been all stirred up until they were thick and muddy .

isn't it something to have started a soul along a path that may end in shakespeare and paradise lost ? "

mrs lynde came up later on with more encouragement .

that good lady had waylaid the schoolchildren at her gate and demanded of them how they liked their new teacher .

" and every one of them said they liked you splendid , anne , except anthony pye .

i must admit he didn't .

he said you ' weren't any good , just like all girl teachers . '

there 's the pye leaven for you .

but never mind . "

" i 'm not going to mind , " said anne quietly , " and i 'm going to make anthony pye like me yet .

patience and kindness will surely win him . "

" well , you can never tell about a pye , " said mrs rachel cautiously .

" they go by contraries , like dreams , often as not .

as for that donnell woman , she 'll get no donnelling from me , i can assure you .

the name is donnell and always has been .

the woman is crazy , that's what .

i 'd be afraid of a judgment if i was her .

vi

all sorts and conditions of men . ..y ..y and women

" the air has magic in it .

look at the purple in the cup of the harvest valley , diana .

and oh , do smell the dying fir !

it 's coming up from that little sunny hollow where mr eben wright has been cutting fence poles .

bliss is it on such a day to be alive ; but to smell dying fir is very heaven .

that 's two thirds wordsworth and one third anne shirley .

it doesn't seem possible that there should be dying fir in heaven , does it ?

perhaps we 'll have the odor there without the death .

yes , i think that will be the way .

that delicious aroma must be the souls of the firs . ..y ..y and of course it will be just souls in heaven . "

" trees haven't souls , " said practical diana , " but the smell of dead fir is certainly lovely .

i 'm going to make a cushion and fill it with fir needles .

you 'd better make one too , anne . "

" i think i shall . ..y ..y and use it for my naps .

i 'd be certain to dream i was a dryad or a woodnymph then .

" it 's a lovely day but we have anything but a lovely task before us , " sighed diana .

" why on earth did you offer to canvass this road , anne ?

almost all the cranks in avonlea live along it , and we 'll probably be treated as if we were begging for ourselves .

it 's the very worst road of all . "

" that is why i chose it .

of course gilbert and fred would have taken this road if we had asked them .

i 'm sorry on your account ; but you needn't say a word at the cranky places .

i 'll do all the talking . . .

mrs lynde would say i was well able to .

mrs lynde doesn't know whether to approve of our enterprise or not .

so she is halting between two opinions and only success will justify us in mrs lynde 's eyes .

i shall never forget the thrill it gave me when i found out that mrs charlotte e morgan was priscilla 's aunt .

it seemed so wonderful that i was a friend of the girl whose aunt wrote ' edgewood days ' and ' the rosebud garden . ' "

" where does mrs morgan live ? "

" in toronto .

that seems almost too good to be true but it 's something pleasant to imagine after you go to bed . "

the avonlea village improvement society was an organized fact .

gilbert blythe was president , fred wright vice-president , anne shirley secretary , and diana barry treasurer .

the " improvers , " as they were promptly christened , were to meet once a fortnight at the homes of the members .

mr elisha wright was reported to have said that a more appropriate name for the organization would be courting club .

mrs hiram sloane declared she had heard the improvers meant to plough up all the roadsides and set them out with geraniums .

mr james spencer sent them word that he wished they would kindly shovel down the church hill .

eben wright told anne that he wished the improvers could induce old josiah sloane to keep his whiskers trimmed .

gilbert put the motion , it was carried unanimously , and anne gravely recorded it in her minutes .

the committee chose their routes in private conclave .

the next saturday anne and diana started out .

they drove to the end of the road and canvassed homeward , calling first on the " andrew girls . "

" if catherine is alone we may get something , " said diana , " but if eliza is there we won't . "

eliza was there . ..y ..y very much so . . . and looked even grimmer than usual .

the andrew girls had been " girls " for fifty odd years and seemed likely to remain girls to the end of their earthly pilgrimage .

they lived in a little brown house built in a sunny corner scooped out of mark andrew 's beech woods .

eliza complained that it was terrible hot in summer , but catherine was wont to say it was lovely and warm in winter .

eliza was sewing patchwork , not because it was needed but simply as a protest against the frivolous lace catherine was crocheting .

eliza listened with a frown and catherine with a smile , as the girls explained their errand .

to be sure , whenever catherine caught eliza 's eye she discarded the smile in guilty confusion ; but it crept back the next moment .

" oh , eliza , young folks must have some amusement , " protested catherine .

" i don't see the necessity .

we didn't gad about to halls and places when we were young , catherine andrews .

this world is getting worse every day . "

" i think it 's getting better , " said catherine firmly .

" you think ! "

miss eliza 's voice expressed the utmost contempt .

" it doesn't signify what you think , catherine andrews .

facts is facts . "

" well , i always like to look on the bright side , eliza . "

" there isn't any bright side . "

" oh , indeed there is , " cried anne , who couldn't endure such heresy in silence .

" why , there are ever so many bright sides , miss andrews .

it 's really a beautiful world . "

how is your mother , diana ?

dear me , but she has failed of late .

she looks terrible run down .

and how long is it before marilla expects to be stone blind , anne ? "

" the doctor thinks her eyes will not get any worse if she is very careful , " faltered anne .

eliza shook her head .

" doctors always talk like that just to keep people cheered up .

i wouldn't have much hope if i was her .

it 's best to be prepared for the worst . "

" but oughtn't we be prepared for the best too ? " pleaded anne .

" it 's just as likely to happen as the worst . "

" not in my experience , and i 've fifty-seven years to set against your sixteen , " retorted eliza .

" going , are you ?

anne and diana got themselves thankfully out , and drove away as fast as the fat pony could go .

as they rounded the curve below the beech wood a plump figure came speeding over mr andrews ' pasture , waving to them excitedly .

" that 's my contribution to painting the hall , " she gasped .

i 'm real interested in your society and i believe you 're going to do a lot of good .

i 'm an optimist .

i have to be , living with eliza .

i must hurry back before she misses me . ..y ..y she thinks i 'm feeding the hens .

i hope you 'll have good luck canvassing , and don't be cast down over what eliza said .

the world is getting better . ..y ..y it certainly is . "

the next house was daniel blair 's .

" if she is we won't get a cent .

she says she has to be just before she 's generous .

but mrs lynde says she 's so much ' before ' that generosity never catches up with her at all . "

anne related their experience at the blair place to marilla that evening .

" we tied the horse and then rapped at the kitchen door .

nobody came but the door was open and we could hear somebody in the pantry , going on dreadfully .

we couldn't make out the words but diana says she knows they were swearing by the sound of them .

we begged him not to mention it and went in and sat down .

' i 'm a little busy . ..y ..y getting ready to bake a cake as it were .

she writ out the recipe and told me what to do but i 've clean forgot half the directions already .

and it says , ' flavor according to taste . '

what does that mean ?

how can you tell ?

and what if my taste doesn't happen to be other people 's taste ?

would a tablespoon of vanilla be enough for a small layer cake ? "

" i felt sorrier than ever for the poor man .

he didn't seem to be in his proper sphere at all .

i had heard of henpecked husbands and now i felt that i saw one .

but i suddenly thought it wouldn't be neighborly to drive too sharp a bargain with a fellow creature in distress .

so i offered to mix the cake for him without any conditions at all .

he just jumped at my offer .

he got me another apron , and diana beat the eggs and i mixed the cake .

mr blair ran about and got us the materials .

so you see we were rewarded .

but even if he hadn't given a cent i 'd always feel that we had done a truly christian act in helping him . "

theodore white 's was the next stopping place .

should they go to the back or front door ?

while they held a whispered consultation mrs theodore appeared at the front door with an armful of newspapers .

" will you please wipe your feet carefully on the grass and then walk on these papers ? " she said anxiously .

" i 've just swept the house all over and i can't have any more dust tracked in .

the path 's been real muddy since the rain yesterday . "

" don't you dare laugh , " warned anne in a whisper , as they marched along the newspapers .

the papers extended across the hall and into a prim , fleckless parlor .

anne and diana sat down gingerly on the nearest chairs and explained their errand .

" i am glad she has no children , " said anne solemnly .

" it would be dreadful beyond words for them if she had . "

at the spencers ' mrs isabella spencer made them miserable by saying something ill-natured about everyone in avonlea .

their worst reception , however , was at simon fletcher 's .

when they drove into the yard they saw two faces peering at them through the porch window .

but although they rapped and waited patiently and persistently nobody came to the door .

two decidedly ruffled and indignant girls drove away from simon fletcher 's .

even anne admitted that she was beginning to feel discouraged .

but the tide turned after that .

their last place of call was at robert dickson 's by the pond bridge .

while they were there old mrs james white called in .

" i 've just been down to lorenzo 's , " she announced .

" he 's the proudest man in avonlea this minute .

what do you think ?

there 's a brand new boy there . ..y ..y and after seven girls that 's quite an event , i can tell you . "

anne pricked up her ears , and when they drove away she said .

" i 'm going straight to lorenzo white 's . "

" but he lives on the white sands road and it 's quite a distance out of our way , " protested diana .

" gilbert and fred will canvass him . "

" they are not going around until next saturday and it will be too late by then , " said anne firmly .

" the novelty will be worn off .

lorenzo white is dreadfully mean but he will subscribe to anything just now .

we mustn't let such a golden opportunity slip , diana . "

the result justified anne 's foresight .

mr white met them in the yard , beaming like the sun upon an easter day .

when anne asked for a subscription he agreed enthusiastically .

" certain , certain .

just put me down for a dollar more than the highest subscription you 've got . "

" that will be five dollars . . .

mr daniel blair put down four , " said anne , half afraid .

but lorenzo did not flinch .

" five it is . ..y ..y and here 's the money on the spot .

now , i want you to come into the house .

there 's something in there worth seeing . ..y ..y something very few people have seen as yet .

just come in and pass your opinion . "

" what will we say if the baby isn't pretty ? " whispered diana in trepidation as they followed the excited lorenzo into the house .

" oh , there will certainly be something else nice to say about it , " said anne easily .

" there always is about a baby . "

but that was the first , last , and only time that lorenzo white ever subscribed to anything .

mr harrison , however , flatly refused to subscribe a cent , and all anne 's wiles were in vain .

" but i thought you approved of our society , mr harrison , " she mourned .

vii

the pointing of duty

anne leaned back in her chair one mild october evening and sighed .

" what is the matter ? " asked gilbert , who had arrived at the open kitchen door just in time to hear the sigh .

anne colored , and thrust her writing out of sight under some school compositions .

" nothing very dreadful .

they seem so still and foolish directly they 're written down on white paper with black ink .

fancies are like shadows . ..y ..y you can't cage them , they 're such wayward , dancing things .

but perhaps i 'll learn the secret some day if i keep on trying .

i haven't a great many spare moments , you know .

by the time i finish correcting school exercises and compositions , i don't always feel like writing any of my own . "

" you are getting on splendidly in school , anne .

all the children like you , " said gilbert , sitting down on the stone step .

" no , not all .

anthony pye doesn't and won't like me .

what is worse , he doesn't respect me . ..y ..y no , he doesn't .

he simply holds me in contempt and i don't mind confessing to you that it worries me miserably .

it isn't that he is so very bad . ..y ..y he is only rather mischievous , but no worse than some of the others .

i 've tried every way to win him but i 'm beginning to fear i never shall .

" probably it 's merely the effect of what he hears at home . "

" not altogether .

anthony is an independent little chap and makes up his own mind about things .

he has always gone to men before and he says girl teachers are no good .

well , we 'll see what patience and kindness will do .

i like overcoming difficulties and teaching is really very interesting work .

paul irving makes up for all that is lacking in the others .

that child is a perfect darling , gilbert , and a genius into the bargain .

i 'm persuaded the world will hear of him some day , " concluded anne in a tone of conviction .

" i like teaching , too , " said gilbert .

" it 's good training , for one thing .

we all seem to be getting on pretty well .

why is it that they never seem to think it a duty to tell you the pleasant things they hear about you ?

if prillie would spend less time making eyes at the boys over her slate she might do better .

i feel quite sure that jack gillis works her class sums for her , though i 've never been able to catch him red-handed . "

" have you succeeded in reconciling mrs donnell 's hopeful son to his saintly name ? "

" yes , " laughed anne , " but it was really a difficult task .

so i kept him in after school one night and talked kindly to him .

i told him his mother wished me to call him st clair and i couldn't go against her wishes .

of course , i had to rebuke him again for using such shocking language .

since then i call him st clair and the boys call him jake and all goes smoothly .

gilbert had finally made up his mind that he was going to be a doctor .

" it 's a splendid profession , " he said enthusiastically .

it seems to me that is the only way a fellow can get square with his obligations to the race . "

" i 'd like to add some beauty to life , " said anne dreamily .

" i think you 're fulfilling that ambition every day , " said gilbert admiringly .

and he was right .

anne was one of the children of light by birthright .

finally gilbert rose regretfully .

" well , i must run up to macphersons ' .

moody spurgeon came home from queen 's today for sunday and he was to bring me out a book professor boyd is lending me . "

" and i must get marilla 's tea .

she went to see mrs keith this evening and she will soon be back . "

but marilla sank into her chair with a deep sigh .

" are your eyes troubling you ?

does your head ache ? " queried anne anxiously .

" no .

i 'm only tired . . . and worried .

it 's about mary and those children . . .

mary is worse . ..y ..y she can't last much longer .

and as for the twins , i don't know what is to become of them . "

" hasn't their uncle been heard from ? "

" yes , mary had a letter from him .

he 's working in a lumber camp and ' shacking it , ' whatever that means .

anyway , he says he can't possibly take the children till the spring .

she says she can't bear to ask any of them .

mary never got on any too well with the east grafton people and that 's a fact .

" oh ! "

anne clasped her hands , all athrill with excitement .

" and of course you will , marilla , won't you ? "

" i haven't made up my mind , " said marilla rather tartly .

" i don't rush into things in your headlong way , anne .

third cousinship is a pretty slim claim .

and it will be a fearful responsibility to have two children of six years to look after . . . twins , at that . "

marilla had an idea that twins were just twice as bad as single children .

" twins are very interesting . ..y ..y at least one pair of them , " said anne .

" it 's only when there are two or three pairs that it gets monotonous .

and i think it would be real nice for you to have something to amuse you when i 'm away in school . "

" i don't reckon there 'd be much amusement in it . ..y ..y more worry and bother than anything else , i should say .

it wouldn't be so risky if they were even as old as you were when i took you .

i wouldn't mind dora so much . ..y ..y she seems good and quiet .

but that davy is a limb . "

anne was fond of children and her heart yearned over the keith twins .

the remembrance of her own neglected childhood was very vivid with her still .

" if davy is naughty it 's all the more reason why he should have good training , isn't it , marilla ?

if we don't take them we don't know who will , nor what kind of influences may surround them .

suppose mrs keith 's next door neighbors , the sprotts , were to take them .

mrs lynde says henry sprott is the most profane man that ever lived and you can't believe a word his children say .

wouldn't it be dreadful to have the twins learn anything like that ?

or suppose they went to the wiggins ' .

mrs lynde says that mr wiggins sells everything off the place that can be sold and brings his family up on skim milk .

you wouldn't like your relations to be starved , even if they were only third cousins , would you ?

it seems to me , marilla , that it is our duty to take them . "

" i suppose it is , " assented marilla gloomily .

" i daresay i 'll tell mary i 'll take them .

you needn't look so delighted , anne .

it will mean a good deal of extra work for you .

i can't sew a stitch on account of my eyes , so you 'll have to see to the making and mending of their clothes .

and you don't like sewing . "

it does people good to have to do things they don't like . ..y ..y in moderation . "

viii

marilla adopts twins

but that had been in springtime ; and this was late autumn , and all the woods were leafless and the fields sere and brown .

mrs rachel peered at it eagerly .

" there 's marilla getting home from the funeral , " she said to her husband , who was lying on the kitchen lounge .

dora 's sitting up on the seat as prim as you please .

she always looks as if she 'd just been starched and ironed .

well , poor marilla is going to have her hands full this winter and no mistake .

anne 's tickled to death over the whole business , and she has a real knacky way with children , i must say .

and now she has adopted twins .

you 're never safe from being surprised till you 're dead . "

the fat pony jogged over the bridge in lynde 's hollow and along the green gables lane .

marilla 's face was rather grim .

it was ten miles from east grafton and davy keith seemed to be possessed with a passion for perpetual motion .

in despair she finally threatened to whip him soundly when she got him home .

whereupon davy climbed into her lap , regardless of the reins , flung his chubby arms about her neck and gave her a bear-like hug .

" i don't believe you mean it , " he said , smacking her wrinkled cheek affectionately .

" you don't look like a lady who 'd whip a little boy just ' cause he couldn't keep still .

didn't you find it awful hard to keep still when you was only ' s old as me ? "

" you was a girl once , i s'pose , though it 's awful funny to think of it .

dora can sit still . ..y ..y but there ain't much fun in it i don't think .

seems to me it must be slow to be a girl .

here , dora , let me liven you up a bit . "

davy 's method of " livening up " was to grasp dora 's curls in his fingers and give them a tug .

dora shrieked and then cried .

" but she was glad to die , " said davy confidentially .

" i know , ' cause she told me so .

she was awful tired of being sick .

we 'd a long talk the night before she died .

she told me you was going to take me and dora for the winter and i was to be a good boy .

i 'm going to be good , but can't you be good running round just as well as sitting still ?

and she said i was always to be kind to dora and stand up for her , and i 'm going to . "

" do you call pulling her hair being kind to her ? "

" well , i ain't going to let anybody else pull it , " said davy , doubling up his fists and frowning .

" they 'd just better try it .

i didn't hurt her much . ..y ..y she just cried ' cause she 's a girl .

i 'm glad i 'm a boy but i 'm sorry i'm a twin .

but i can't tell dora that , and she just goes on thinking diffrunt from me .

you might let me drive the gee-gee for a spell , since i 'm a man . "

anne was at the gate to meet them and lift the twins out .

at the supper table dora behaved like a little lady , but davy 's manners left much to be desired .

" i 'm so hungry i ain't got time to eat p'litely , " he said when marilla reproved him .

" dora ain't half as hungry as i am .

look at all the ex'cise i took on the road here .

that cake 's awful nice and plummy .

and mrs wiggins never puts any plums in her cakes .

catch her !

can i have another piece ? "

marilla would have refused but anne cut a generous second slice .

however , she reminded davy that he ought to say " thank you " for it .

davy merely grinned at her and took a huge bite .

when he had finished the slice he said ,

" if you 'll give me another piece i 'll say thank you for it . "

dora 's lip trembled and marilla was speechless with horror .

anne promptly exclaimed , with her best " schoolma'am " air ,

" oh , davy , gentlemen don't do things like that . "

" i know they don't , " said davy , as soon as he could speak , " but i ain't a gemplum . "

" but don't you want to be ? " said shocked anne .

" course i do .

but you can't be a gemplum till you grow up . "

" oh , indeed you can , " anne hastened to say , thinking she saw a chance to sow good seed betimes .

" you can begin to be a gentleman when you are a little boy .

and gentlemen never snatch things from ladies . ..y ..y or forget to say thank you . ..y ..y or pull anybody 's hair . "

" they don't have much fun , that 's a fact , " said davy frankly .

" i guess i 'll wait till i 'm grown up to be one . "

marilla , with a resigned air , had cut another piece of cake for dora .

she did not feel able to cope with davy just then .

it had been a hard day for her , what with the funeral and the long drive .

at that moment she looked forward to the future with a pessimism that would have done credit to eliza andrews herself .

the twins were not noticeably alike , although both were fair .

dora had long sleek curls that never got out of order .

davy had a crop of fuzzy little yellow ringlets all over his round head .

dora 's hazel eyes were gentle and mild ; davy 's were as roguish and dancing as an elf's .

mirth and mischief lurked in every corner of his little face .

" they 'd better go to bed , " said marilla , who thought it was the easiest way to dispose of them .

" dora will sleep with me and you can put davy in the west gable .

you 're not afraid to sleep alone , are you , davy ? "

" no ; but i ain't going to bed for ever so long yet , " said davy comfortably .

" oh , yes , you are . "

that was all the much-tried marilla said , but something in her tone squelched even davy .

he trotted obediently upstairs with anne .

in after years marilla never thought of that first week of the twins ' sojourn at green gables without a shiver .

not that it really was so much worse than the weeks that followed it ; but it seemed so by reason of its novelty .

anne dressed him for church while marilla attended to dora .

davy at first objected strongly to having his face washed .

" marilla washed it yesterday . ..y ..y and mrs wiggins scoured me with hard soap the day of the funeral .

that 's enough for one week .

i don't see the good of being so awful clean .

it 's lots more comfable being dirty . "

" paul irving washes his face every day of his own accord , " said anne astutely .

if paul irving washed his face every day , that settled it .

he , davy keith , would do it too , if it killed him .

anne felt an almost maternal pride in him as she led him into the old cuthbert pew .

the first two hymns and the scripture reading passed off uneventfully .

mr allan was praying when the sensation came .

davy thrust his hand into his pocket and produced . ..y ..y a caterpillar , a furry , squirming caterpillar .

marilla saw and clutched at him but she was too late .

davy dropped the caterpillar down lauretta 's neck .

right into the middle of mr allan 's prayer burst a series of piercing shrieks .

the minister stopped appalled and opened his eyes .

every head in the congregation flew up .

lauretta white was dancing up and down in her pew , clutching frantically at the back of her dress .

mrs white rose and with a set face carried the hysterical , writhing lauretta out of church .

her shrieks died away in the distance and mr allan proceeded with the service .

but everybody felt that it was a failure that day .

for the first time in her life marilla took no notice of the text and anne sat with scarlet cheeks of mortification .

when they got home marilla put davy to bed and made him stay there for the rest of the day .

she would not give him any dinner but allowed him a plain tea of bread and milk .

anne carried it to him and sat sorrowfully by him while he ate it with an unrepentant relish .

but anne 's mournful eyes troubled him .

" indeed he wouldn't , " said anne sadly .

" well , i 'm kind of sorry i did it , then , " conceded davy .

" but it was such a jolly big caterpillar . . .

i picked him up on the church steps just as we went in .

it seemed a pity to waste him .

and say , wasn't it fun to hear that girl yell ? "

tuesday afternoon the aid society met at green gables .

anne hurried home from school , for she knew that marilla would need all the assistance she could give .

davy , blissfully dirty , was making mud pies in the barnyard .

" i told him he might , " said marilla wearily .

" i thought it would keep him out of worse mischief .

he can only get dirty at that .

we 'll have our teas over before we call him to his .

when anne went to call the aids to tea she found that dora was not in the parlor .

mrs jasper bell said davy had come to the front door and called her out .

a hasty consultation with marilla in the pantry resulted in a decision to let both children have their teas together later on .

tea was half over when the dining room was invaded by a forlorn figure .

marilla and anne stared in dismay , the aids in amazement .

" davy made me walk the pigpen fence , " wailed dora .

" i didn't want to but he called me a fraid-cat .

and i fell off into the pigpen and my dress got all dirty and the pig runned right over me .

anne did the honors of the table alone for the rest of the meal while marilla went upstairs and redressed dora in her old clothes .

davy was caught and sent to bed without any supper .

she told him she felt very badly over his conduct .

dora wouldn't help me make pies , cause she was afraid of messing her clo'es and that made me hopping mad .

i s'pose paul irving wouldn't have made his sister walk a pigpen fence if he knew she 'd fall in ? "

" no , he would never dream of such a thing .

paul is a perfect little gentleman . "

davy screwed his eyes tight shut and seemed to meditate on this for a time .

then he crawled up and put his arms about anne 's neck , snuggling his flushed little face down on her shoulder .

" anne , don't you like me a little bit , even if i ain't a good boy like paul ? "

" indeed i do , " said anne sincerely .

somehow , it was impossible to help liking davy .

" but i 'd like you better still if you weren't so naughty . "

" i ..y ..y ..y did something else today , " went on davy in a muffled voice .

" i 'm sorry now but i 'm awful scared to tell you .

you won't be very cross , will you ?

and you won't tell marilla , will you ? "

" i don't know , davy .

perhaps i ought to tell her .

but i think i can promise you i won't if you promise me that you will never do it again , whatever it is . "

" no , i never will .

anyhow , it 's not likely i 'd find any more of them this year .

i found this one on the cellar steps . "

" davy , what is it you've done ? "

" i put a toad in marilla 's bed .

you can go and take it out if you like .

but say , anne , wouldn't it be fun to leave it there ? "

" davy keith ! "

anne sprang from davy 's clinging arms and flew across the hall to marilla 's room .

the bed was slightly rumpled .

she threw back the blankets in nervous haste and there in very truth was the toad , blinking at her from under a pillow .

" how can i carry that awful thing out ? " moaned anne with a shudder .

the fire shovel suggested itself to her and she crept down to get it while marilla was busy in the pantry .

when she finally deposited it in the cherry orchard she drew a long breath of relief .

" if marilla knew she 'd never feel safe getting into bed again in her life .

i 'm so glad that little sinner repented in time .

there 's diana signaling to me from her window .

i 'm glad . . .

ix

a question of color

" i detest that woman more than anybody i know .

" the trouble is , you and mrs lynde don't understand one another , " she explained .

" that is always what is wrong when people don't like each other .

i didn't like mrs lynde at first either ; but as soon as i came to understand her i learned to . "

" and as for understanding her , i understand that she is a confirmed busybody and i told her so . "

" oh , that must have hurt her feelings very much , " said anne reproachfully .

" how could you say such a thing ?

i said some dreadful things to mrs lynde long ago but it was when i had lost my temper .

i couldn't say them deliberately . "

" it was the truth and i believe in telling the truth to everybody . "

" but you don't tell the whole truth , " objected anne .

" you only tell the disagreeable part of the truth .

" i daresay you know it without any telling , " chuckled mr harrison .

" well , well , i 'll try and not mention it again since you 're so sensitive .

you must excuse me , anne .

i 've got a habit of being outspoken and folks mustn't mind it . "

" but they can't help minding it .

and i don't think it 's any help that it 's your habit .

you 'd think he was crazy , wouldn't you ?

and as for mrs lynde being a busybody , perhaps she is .

" i suppose she has some good qualities , " conceded mr harrison grudgingly .

" most folks have .

i have some myself , though you might never suspect it .

but anyhow i ain't going to give anything to that carpet .

folks are everlasting begging for money here , it seems to me .

how 's your project of painting the hall coming on ? "

" splendidly .

most people gave very liberally , mr harrison . "

anne was a sweet-souled lass , but she could instill some venom into innocent italics when occasion required .

" what color are you going to have it ? "

" we have decided on a very pretty green .

the roof will be dark red , of course .

mr roger pye is going to get the paint in town today . "

" who 's got the job ? "

" mr joshua pye of carmody .

he has nearly finished the shingling .

mrs lynde says they try to run everything . "

" the main question is will this joshua do his work well .

if he does i don't see that it matters whether his name is pye or pudding . "

" he has the reputation of being a good workman , though they say he 's a very peculiar man .

he hardly ever talks . "

" he 's peculiar enough all right then , " said mr harrison drily .

" or at least , folks here will call him so .

you 're not going yet , anne ? "

" i must .

i have some sewing to do for dora this evening .

besides , davy is probably breaking marilla 's heart with some new mischief by this time .

this morning the first thing he said was , ' where does the dark go , anne ?

i want to know . '

marilla says she caught him hanging over the well-box four times today , trying to reach down to the dark . "

" he 's a limb , " declared mr harrison .

" he came over here yesterday and pulled six feathers out of ginger 's tail before i could get in from the barn .

the poor bird has been moping ever since .

those children must be a sight of trouble to you folks . "

he was not disturbed in his task .

the hall was situated on what was called " the lower road . "

in late autumn this road was always muddy and wet , and people going to carmody traveled by the longer " upper " road .

the hall was so closely surrounded by fir woods that it was invisible unless you were near it .

mr joshua pye painted away in the solitude and independence that were so dear to his unsociable heart .

friday afternoon he finished his job and went home to carmody .

when she rounded the spruce curve she saw .

the sight affected mrs lynde oddly .

she dropped the reins , held up her hands , and said " gracious providence ! "

she stared as if she could not believe her eyes .

then she laughed almost hysterically .

" there must be some mistake . ..y . there must .

i knew those pyes would make a mess of things . "

mrs lynde drove home , meeting several people on the road and stopping to tell them about the hall .

the news flew like wildfire .

" it isn't true surely , anne ? " exclaimed gilbert .

" it is true , " answered anne , looking like the muse of tragedy .

" mrs lynde called on her way from carmody to tell me .

oh , it is simply dreadful !

what is the use of trying to improve anything ? "

" what is dreadful ? " asked oliver sloane , arriving at this moment with a bandbox he had brought from town for marilla .

" haven't you heard ? " said jane wrathfully .

" well , its simply this . . .

you could simply have knocked me down with a feather when i heard it .

it 's heartbreaking , after all the trouble we 've had . "

" how on earth could such a mistake have happened ? " wailed diana .

the blame of this unmerciful disaster was eventually narrowed down to the pyes .

the improvers had decided to use morton-harris paints and the morton-harris paint cans were numbered according to a color card .

a purchaser chose his shade on the card and ordered by the accompanying number .

that night there was blank dismay in every avonlea house where an improver lived .

the gloom at green gables was so intense that it quenched even davy .

anne wept and would not be comforted .

" i must cry , even if i am almost seventeen , marilla , " she sobbed .

" it is so mortifying .

and it sounds the death knell of our society .

we 'll simply be laughed out of existence . "

in life , as in dreams , however , things often go by contraries .

the avonlea people did not laugh ; they were too angry .

their money had gone to paint the hall and consequently they felt themselves bitterly aggrieved by the mistake .

public indignation centered on the pyes .

the improvers paid him his money in bitterness of spirit , after consulting mr peter sloane , who was a magistrate .

" you 'll have to pay it , " peter told him .

but it 's a burning shame and that hall certainly does look awful . "

the luckless improvers expected that avonlea would be more prejudiced than ever against them ; but instead , public sympathy veered around in their favor .

people thought the eager , enthusiastic little band who had worked so hard for their object had been badly used .

even mr harrison chuckled , if he chuckled at all , in private , and was all sympathy outwardly .

" never mind , anne .

and the roof is shingled and painted all right .

folks will be able to sit in the hall after this without being leaked on .

you 've accomplished so much anyhow . "

" but avonlea 's blue hall will be a byword in all the neighboring settlements from this time out , " said anne bitterly .

and it must be confessed that it was .

x

davy in search of a sensation

anne , walking home from school through the birch path one november afternoon , felt convinced afresh that life was a very wonderful thing .

the day had been a good day ; all had gone well in her little kingdom .

we 've had lovely days and delicious twilights .

this last fortnight has been so peaceful , and even davy has been almost well-behaved .

i really think he is improving a great deal .

how quiet the woods are today . ..y ..y not a murmur except that soft wind purring in the treetops !

it sounds like surf on a faraway shore .

how dear the woods are !

you beautiful trees !

i love every one of you as a friend . "

anne paused to throw her arm about a slim young birch and kiss its cream-white trunk .

diana , rounding a curve in the path , saw her and laughed .

" anne shirley , you 're only pretending to be grown up .

i believe when you 're alone you 're as much a little girl as you ever were . "

" well , one can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once , " said anne gaily .

" you see , i was little for fourteen years and i 've only been grown-uppish for scarcely three .

i 'm sure i shall always feel like a child in the woods .

i 'm so busy with teaching and studying and helping marilla with the twins that i haven't another moment for imagining things .

you don't know what splendid adventures i have for a little while after i go to bed in the east gable every night .

last night i was a queen .

it 's really splendid to imagine you are a queen .

but here in the woods i like best to imagine quite different things . . .

i 'm a dryad living in an old pine , or a little brown wood-elf hiding under a crinkled leaf .

that white birch you caught me kissing is a sister of mine .

the only difference is , she 's a tree and i 'm a girl , but that 's no real difference .

where are you going , diana ? "

" down to the dicksons .

i promised to help alberta cut out her new dress .

can't you walk down in the evening , anne , and come home with me ? "

" i might . ..y ..y since fred wright is away in town , " said anne with a rather too innocent face .

diana blushed , tossed her head , and walked on .

she did not look offended , however .

anne fully intended to go down to the dicksons ' that evening , but she did not .

when she arrived at green gables she found a state of affairs which banished every other thought from her mind .

marilla met her in the yard . ..y ..y a wild-eyed marilla .

" anne , dora is lost ! "

" dora !

lost ! "

anne looked at davy , who was swinging on the yard gate , and detected merriment in his eyes .

" davy , do you know where she is ? "

" no , i don't , " said davy stoutly .

" i haven't seen her since dinner time , cross my heart . "

" i 've been away ever since one o'clock , " said marilla .

" thomas lynde took sick all of a sudden and rachel sent up for me to go at once .

when i left here dora was playing with her doll in the kitchen and davy was making mud pies behind the barn .

i only got home half an hour ago . ..y ..y and no dora to be seen .

davy declares he never saw her since i left . "

" neither i did , " avowed davy solemnly .

" she must be somewhere around , " said anne .

" she would never wander far away alone . ..y ..y you know how timid she is .

perhaps she has fallen asleep in one of the rooms . "

marilla shook her head .

" i 've hunted the whole house through .

but she may be in some of the buildings . "

a thorough search followed .

every corner of house , yard , and outbuildings was ransacked by those two distracted people .

anne roved the orchards and the haunted wood , calling dora 's name .

marilla took a candle and explored the cellar .

davy accompanied each of them in turn , and was fertile in thinking of places where dora could possibly be .

finally they met again in the yard .

" it 's a most mysterious thing , " groaned marilla .

" where can she be ? " said anne miserably

" maybe she 's tumbled into the well , " suggested davy cheerfully .

anne and marilla looked fearfully into each other 's eyes .

the thought had been with them both through their entire search but neither had dared to put it into words .

" she ..y ..y ..y she might have , " whispered marilla .

anne , feeling faint and sick , went to the wellbox and peered over .

the bucket sat on the shelf inside .

far down below was a tiny glimmer of still water .

the cuthbert well was the deepest in avonlea .

if dora . ..y ..y but anne could not face the idea .

she shuddered and turned away .

" run across for mr harrison , " said marilla , wringing her hands .

" mr harrison and john henry are both away . ..y ..y they went to town today .

i 'll go for mr barry . "

finally mr barry shook his head , with a relieved air .

" she can't be down there .

it 's a mighty curious thing where she could have got to , though .

look here , young man , are you sure you 've no idea where your sister is ? "

" i 've told you a dozen times that i haven't , " said davy , with an injured air .

" maybe a tramp come and stole her . "

" nonsense , " said marilla sharply , relieved from her horrible fear of the well .

" anne , do you suppose she could have strayed over to mr harrison 's ?

she has always been talking about his parrot ever since that time you took her over . "

" i can't believe dora would venture so far alone but i 'll go over and see , " said anne .

nobody was looking at davy just then or it would have been seen that a very decided change came over his face .

he quietly slipped off the gate and ran , as fast as his fat legs could carry him , to the barn .

anne hastened across the fields to the harrison establishment in no very hopeful frame of mind .

the house was locked , the window shades were down , and there was no sign of anything living about the place .

she stood on the veranda and called dora loudly .

" oh , dora , dora , what a fright you have given us !

how came you to be here ? "

and then davy brought me here and run out and shut the door ; and i couldn't get out .

" davy ? "

but anne could say no more .

she carried dora home with a heavy heart .

her joy at finding the child safe and sound was drowned out in the pain caused by davy 's behavior .

the freak of shutting dora up might easily have been pardoned .

but davy had told falsehoods . ..y ..y downright coldblooded falsehoods about it .

that was the ugly fact and anne could not shut her eyes to it .

she could have sat down and cried with sheer disappointment .

marilla listened to anne 's tale in a silence that boded no good davy-ward ; mr barry laughed and advised that davy be summarily dealt with .

when he had gone home anne soothed and warmed the sobbing , shivering dora , got her her supper and put her to bed .

she jerked him to the mat on the middle of the floor and then went and sat down by the east window .

anne was sitting limply by the west window .

between them stood the culprit .

but no half hidden smile answered him in anne 's gray eyes , as there might have done had it been only a question of mischief .

there was something else . ..y ..y something ugly and repulsive .

" how could you behave so , davy ? " she asked sorrowfully .

davy squirmed uncomfortably .

" i just did it for fun .

things have been so awful quiet here for so long that i thought it would be fun to give you folks a big scare .

it was , too . "

in spite of fear and a little remorse davy grinned over the recollection .

" but you told a falsehood about it , davy , " said anne , more sorrowfully than ever .

davy looked puzzled .

" what 's a falsehood ?

do you mean a whopper ? "

" i mean a story that was not true . "

" course i did , " said davy frankly .

" if i hadn't you wouldn't have been scared .

i had to tell it . "

anne was feeling the reaction from her fright and exertions .

davy 's impenitent attitude gave the finishing touch .

two big tears brimmed up in her eyes .

" oh , davy , how could you ? " she said , with a quiver in her voice .

" don't you know how wrong it was ? "

davy was aghast .

anne crying . ..y ..y he had made anne cry !

a flood of real remorse rolled like a wave over his warm little heart and engulfed it .

he rushed to anne , hurled himself into her lap , flung his arms around her neck , and burst into tears .

" i didn't know it was wrong to tell whoppers , " he sobbed .

" how did you expect me to know it was wrong ?

all mr sprott 's children told them regular every day , and cross their hearts too .

but i think you might have told me it was wrong .

i 'm awful sorry i've made you cry , anne , and i 'll never tell a whopper again . "

davy buried his face in anne 's shoulder and cried stormily .

anne , in a sudden glad flash of understanding , held him tight and looked over his curly thatch at marilla .

" he didn't know it was wrong to tell falsehoods , marilla .

i think we must forgive him for that part of it this time if he will promise never to say what isn't true again . "

" i never will , now that i know it 's bad , " asseverated davy between sobs .

" if you ever catch me telling a whopper again you can . . . "

davy groped mentally for a suitable penance . ..y ..y " you can skin me alive , anne . "

" don't say ' whopper , ' davy . ..y ..y say ' falsehood , ' " said the schoolma'am .

" why ? " queried davy , settling comfortably down and looking up with a tearstained , investigating face .

" why ain't whopper as good as falsehood ?

i want to know .

it 's just as big a word . "

" it 's slang ; and it 's wrong for little boys to use slang . "

" there 's an awful lot of things it 's wrong to do , " said davy with a sigh .

" i never s'posed there was so many .

what are you going to do to me for telling them this time ?

i want to know . "

anne looked beseechingly at marilla .

" i don't want to be too hard on the child , " said marilla .

" i daresay nobody ever did tell him it was wrong to tell lies , and those sprott children were no fit companions for him .

poor mary was too sick to train him properly and i presume you couldn't expect a six-year-old child to know things like that by instinct .

i suppose we 'll just have to assume he doesn't know anything right and begin at the beginning .

can't you suggest something else , anne ?

i should think you ought to be able to , with that imagination you 're always talking of . "

" but punishments are so horrid and i like to imagine only pleasant things , " said anne , cuddling davy .

" there are so many unpleasant things in the world already that there is no use in imagining any more . "

in the end davy was sent to bed , as usual , there to remain until noon next day .

he evidently did some thinking , for when anne went up to her room a little later she heard him calling her name softly .

going in , she found him sitting up in bed , with his elbows on his knees and his chin propped on his hands .

" anne , " he said solemnly , " is it wrong for everybody to tell whop . ..y ..y falsehoods ?

i want to know ? "

" yes , indeed . "

" is it wrong for a grown-up person ? "

" yes . "

" then , " said davy decidedly , " marilla is bad , for she tells them .

and she 's worse'n me , for i didn't know it was wrong but she does . "

" davy keith , marilla never told a story in her life , " said anne indignantly .

" she did so .

she told me last tuesday that something dreadful would happen to me if i didn't say my prayers every night .

anne choked back a mad desire to laugh with the conviction that it would be fatal , and then earnestly set about saving marilla 's reputation .

" why , davy keith , " she said solemnly , " something dreadful has happened to you this very day . "

davy looked sceptical .

" i s'pose you mean being sent to bed without any supper , " he said scornfully , " but that isn't dreadful .

course , i don't like it , but i 've been sent to bed so much since i come here that i 'm getting used to it .

and you don't save anything by making me go without supper either , for i always eat twice as much for breakfast . "

" i don't mean your being sent to bed .

i mean the fact that you told a falsehood today .

and , davy , " . . .

so you see marilla told you the truth . "

" but i thought the something bad would be exciting , " protested davy in an injured tone .

" marilla isn't to blame for what you thought .

bad things aren't always exciting .

they 're very often just nasty and stupid . "

" it was awful funny to see marilla and you looking down the well , though , " said davy , hugging his knees .

anne kept a sober face until she got downstairs and then she collapsed on the sitting room lounge and laughed until her sides ached .

" i wish you 'd tell me the joke , " said marilla , a little grimly .

" i haven't seen much to laugh at today . "

" you 'll laugh when you hear this , " assured anne .

and marilla did laugh , which showed how much her education had advanced since the adoption of anne .

but she sighed immediately afterwards .

" i suppose i shouldn't have told him that , although i heard a minister say it to a child once .

but he did aggravate me so .

it was that night you were at the carmody concert and i was putting him to bed .

he said he didn't see the good of praying until he got big enough to be of some importance to god .

anne , i do not know what we are going to do with that child .

i never saw his beat .

i 'm feeling clean discouraged . "

" oh , don't say that , marilla .

remember how bad i was when i came here . "

" anne , you never were bad . . .

never .

i see that now , when i 've learned what real badness is .

you were always getting into terrible scrapes , i 'll admit , but your motive was always good .

davy is just bad from sheer love of it . "

" oh , no , i don't think it is real badness with him either , " pleaded anne .

" it 's just mischief .

and it is rather quiet for him here , you know .

he has no other boys to play with and his mind has to have something to occupy it .

dora is so prim and proper she is no good for a boy 's playmate .

i really think it would be better to let them go to school , marilla . "

the twins can have a few lessons at home but go to school they shan't till they 're seven . "

" well , we must try to reform davy at home then , " said anne cheerfully .

" with all his faults he 's really a dear little chap .

i can't help loving him .

there couldn't be a better child and you 'd hardly know she was in the house . "

" dora is too good , " said anne .

" she 'd behave just as well if there wasn't a soul to tell her what to do .

davy needs us badly . "

" he certainly needs something , " agreed marilla .

" rachel lynde would say it was a good spanking . "

xi

facts and fancies

" teaching is really very interesting work , " wrote anne to a queen 's academy chum .

" jane says she thinks it is monotonous but i don't find it so .

something funny is almost sure to happen every day , and the children say such amusing things .

jane says she punishes her pupils when they make funny speeches , which is probably why she finds teaching monotonous .

this afternoon little jimmy andrews was trying to spell ' speckled ' and couldn't manage it .

' well , ' he said finally , ' i can't spell it but i know what it means . '

" ' what ? '

i asked .

" ' st clair donnell 's face , miss . '

but i don't think st clair minds .

it was because jimmy called him ' st clair ' that st clair pounded him on the way home from school .

i heard of the pounding , but not officially , so i don't think i 'll take any notice of it .

" yesterday i was trying to teach lottie wright to do addition .

' a mouthful , ' said lottie .

" it 's so hard not to laugh , stella .

she says a man in grafton went insane once and that was how it began .

" did you know that thomas a becket was canonized as a snake ?

rose bell says he was . ..y ..y also that william tyndale wrote the new testament .

claude white says a ' glacier ' is a man who puts in window frames !

i asked them to tell me the things they most wanted .

some of the answers were commonplace enough . ..y ..y dolls , ponies , and skates .

others were decidedly original .

hester boulter wanted ' to wear her sunday dress every day and eat in the sitting room . '

hannah bell wanted ' to be good without having to take any trouble about it . '

marjory white , aged ten , wanted to be a widow .

the most remarkable wish was sally bell 's .

she wanted a ' honeymoon . '

" another day i asked them all to tell me the naughtiest thing they had ever done .

i couldn't get the older ones to do so , but the third class answered quite freely .

eliza bell had ' set fire to her aunt 's carded rolls . '

asked if she meant to do it she said , ' not altogether . '

she just tried a little end to see how it would burn and the whole bundle blazed up in a jiffy .

emerson gillis had spent ten cents for candy when he should have put it in his missionary box .

annetta bell 's worst crime was ' eating some blueberries that grew in the graveyard . '

willie white had ' slid down the sheephouse roof a lot of times with his sunday trousers on . '

those compositions would atone for much .

here is ned clay 's , address , spelling , and grammar as originally penned .

" ' miss teacher shirley

green gabels .

p.e .

island can

birds

" ' dear teacher i think i will write you a composition about birds . birds is very useful animals . my cat catches birds .

edward blake clay . ' "

" st clair donnell 's is , as usual , short and to the point .

st clair never wastes words .

i do not think he chose his subject or added the postscript out of malice aforethought .

it is just that he has not a great deal of tact or imagination . "

" ' dear miss shirley

" ' you told us to describe something strange we have seen .

i will describe the avonlea hall .

it has two doors , an inside one and an outside one .

it has six windows and a chimney .

it has two ends and two sides .

it is painted blue .

that is what makes it strange .

it is built on the lower carmody road .

it is the third most important building in avonlea .

the others are the church and the blacksmith shop .

they hold debating clubs and lectures in it and concerts .

" ' yours truly ,

" ' jacob donnell .

" ' p.s. the hall is a very bright blue . ' "

annetta is a quiet little puss and a model of good behavior , but there isn't a shadow of orginality in her .

here is her letter .

" ' dearest teacher ,

" ' i think i will write you a letter to tell you how much i love you .

it would be my highest privilege .

that is why i try so hard to be good in school and learn my lessuns .

" ' you are so beautiful , my teacher .

your voice is like music and your eyes are like pansies when the dew is on them .

you are like a tall stately queen .

your hair is like rippling gold .

anthony pye says it is red , but you needn't pay any attention to anthony .

i will always look back to this year as the most wonderful in my life because it brought you to me .

besides , it 's the year we moved to avonlea from newbridge .

my love for you has made my life very rich and it has kept me from much of harm and evil .

i owe this all to you , my sweetest teacher .

" ' i shall never forget how sweet you looked the last time i saw you in that black dress with flowers in your hair .

i shall see you like that for ever , even when we are both old and gray .

you will always be young and fair to me , dearest teacher .

i am thinking of you all the time . ..y ..y in the morning and at the noontide and at the twilight .

i love you when you laugh and when you sigh . ..y ..y even when you look disdainful .

i love you in every dress . ..y ..y you seem more adorable in each new dress than the last .

" ' dearest teacher , good night .

the sun has set and the stars are shining . ..y ..y stars that are as bright and beautiful as your eyes .

i kiss your hands and face , my sweet .

may god watch over you and protect you from all harm .

" ' your afecksionate pupil ,

" ' annetta bell . ' "

" this extraordinary letter puzzled me not a little .

i knew annetta couldn't have composed it any more than she could fly .

annetta cried and ' fessed up freely .

she said she couldn't make out what he was driving at half the time .

but i thought the letters were sweet and that i 'd just copy things out of them here and there to write you .

i put " dress " in place of " mood . "

i didn't know just what a " mood " was but i s'posed it was something to wear .

i didn't s'pose you 'd know the difference .

i don't see how you found out it wasn't all mine .

you must be awful clever , teacher . '

" i told annetta it was very wrong to copy another person 's letter and pass it off as her own .

but i 'm afraid that all annetta repented of was being found out .

" ' and i do love you , teacher , ' she sobbed .

' it was all true , even if the minister wrote it first .

i do love you with all my heart . '

" it 's very difficult to scold anybody properly under such circumstances .

" here is barbara shaw 's letter .

i can't reproduce the blots of the original .

" ' dear teacher ,

" ' you said we might write about a visit .

i never visited but once .

it was at my aunt mary 's last winter .

my aunt mary is a very particular woman and a great housekeeper .

the first night i was there we were at tea .

i knocked over a jug and broke it .

aunt mary said she had had that jug ever since she was married and nobody had ever broken it before .

when we got up i stepped on her dress and all the gathers tore out of the skirt .

when i was helping aunt mary with the dinner dishes i dropped a china plate and it smashed .

that evening i fell downstairs and sprained my ankle and had to stay in bed for a week .

i heard aunt mary tell uncle joseph it was a mercy or i 'd have broken everything in the house .

when i got better it was time to go home .

i don't like visiting very much .

i like going to school better , especially since i came to avonlea .

" ' yours respectfully ,

" ' barbara shaw . ' "

" willie white 's began ,

" ' respected miss ,

" ' i want to tell you about my very brave aunt .

she lives in ontario and one day she went out to the barn and saw a dog in the yard .

the dog had no business there so she got a stick and whacked him hard and drove him into the barn and shut him up .

and it turned out that the dog was a lion and my very brave aunt had druv him into the barn with a stick .

it was a wonder she was not et up but she was very brave .

emerson gillis says if she thought it was a dog she wasn't any braver than if it really was a dog .

but emerson is jealous because he hasn't got a brave aunt himself , nothing but uncles . '

" ' i have kept the best for the last .

paul lives away down near the shore with his grandmother and he has no playmates . ..y ..y no real playmates .

the other boys in school like him too .

there is nothing weak or girlish about him in spite of his dreams and fancies .

he is very manly and can hold his own in all games .

he fought st clair donnell recently because st clair said the union jack was away ahead of the stars and stripes as a flag .

the result was a drawn battle and a mutual agreement to respect each other 's patriotism henceforth .

st clair says he can hit the hardest but paul can hit the oftenest . ' "

" paul 's letter .

" ' my dear teacher ,

" ' you told us we might write you about some interesting people we knew .

i think the most interesting people i know are my rock people and i mean to tell you about them .

i have never told anybody about them except grandma and father but i would like to have you know about them because you understand things .

there are a great many people who do not understand things so there is no use in telling them . '

" ' my rock people live at the shore .

i used to visit them almost every evening before the winter came .

nora was the first one of them i got acquainted with and so i think i love her the best .

you ought to hear the stories she can tell .

then there are the twin sailors .

they don't live anywhere , they sail all the time , but they often come ashore to talk to me .

they are a pair of jolly tars and they have seen everything in the world . ..y ..y and more than what is in the world .

do you know what happened to the youngest twin sailor once ?

he was sailing and he sailed right into a moonglade .

a moonglade is the track the full moon makes on the water when it is rising from the sea , you know , teacher .

he had some wonderful adventures in the moon but it would make this letter too long to tell them . '

" ' then there is the golden lady of the cave .

one day i found a big cave down on the shore and i went away in and after a while i found the golden lady .

she has golden hair right down to her feet and her dress is all glittering and glistening like gold that is alive .

i 've never told nora about the golden lady .

i was afraid it might hurt her feelings .

it even hurt her feelings if i talked too long with the twin sailors . '

" ' i always met the twin sailors at the striped rocks .

the youngest twin sailor is very good-tempered but the oldest twin sailor can look dreadfully fierce at times .

i have my suspicions about that oldest twin .

i believe he 'd be a pirate if he dared .

there 's really something very mysterious about him .

the boat was all pearly and rainbowy , like the inside of the mussel shells , and her sail was like moonshine .

well , we sailed right across to the sunset .

think of that , teacher , i 've been in the sunset .

and what do you suppose it is ?

the sunset is a land all flowers .

we sailed into a great garden , and the clouds are beds of flowers .

i stayed there for ever so long .

it seemed nearly a year but the oldest twin says it was only a few minutes .

you see , in the sunset land the time is ever so much longer than it is here . '

" ' your loving pupil paul irving . '

" 'p . s ..y of course , this letter isn't really true , teacher .

p.i . ' "

xii

a jonah day

it really began the night before with a restless , wakeful vigil of grumbling toothache .

when anne arose in the dull , bitter winter morning she felt that life was flat , stale , and unprofitable .

she went to school in no angelic mood .

her cheek was swollen and her face ached .

the schoolroom was cold and smoky , for the fire refused to burn and the children were huddled about it in shivering groups .

anne sent them to their seats with a sharper tone than she had ever used before .

anne turned from the second reader class which she was hearing .

" really , barbara , " she said icily , " if you cannot move without falling over something you 'd better remain in your seat .

it is positively disgraceful for a girl of your age to be so awkward . "

poor barbara stumbled back to her desk , her tears combining with the coal dust to produce an effect truly grotesque .

never before had her beloved , sympathetic teacher spoken to her in such a tone or fashion , and barbara was heartbroken .

just as anne was snapping the sums out st clair donnell arrived breathlessly .

" you are half an hour late , st clair , " anne reminded him frigidly .

" why is this ? "

" take your seat and work out the six problems on page eighty-four of your arithmetic for punishment , " said anne .

st clair looked rather amazed at her tone but he went meekly to his desk and took out his slate .

then he stealthily passed a small parcel to joe sloane across the aisle .

anne caught him in the act and jumped to a fatal conclusion about that parcel .

old mrs hiram sloane had lately taken to making and selling " nut cakes " by way of adding to her scanty income .

the cakes were specially tempting to small boys and for several weeks anne had had not a little trouble in regard to them .

" joseph , " said anne quietly , " bring that parcel here . "

joe , startled and abashed , obeyed .

he was a fat urchin who always blushed and stuttered when he was frightened .

never did anybody look more guilty than poor joe at that moment .

" throw it into the fire , " said anne .

joe looked very blank .

" do as i tell you , joseph , without any words about it . "

" joseph , are you going to obey me or are you not ? " said anne .

a bolder and more self-possessed lad than joe sloane would have been overawed by her tone and the dangerous flash of her eyes .

this was a new anne whom none of her pupils had ever seen before .

then he dodged back just in time .

for a few moments the terrified occupants of avonlea school did not know whether it was an earthquake or a volcanic explosion that had occurred .

anne dropped into her chair white with dismay and all the girls climbed shrieking upon their desks .

prillie rogerson fainted and annetta bell went into hysterics .

it seemed a long time , although it was really only a few minutes , before the last pinwheel subsided .

anne , recovering herself , sprang to open doors and windows and let out the gas and smoke which filled the room .

it was a full hour before quiet was restored . ..y ..y but it was a quiet that might be felt .

everybody realized that even the explosion had not cleared the teacher 's mental atmosphere .

nobody , except anthony pye , dared whisper a word .

ned clay accidentally squeaked his pencil while working a sum , caught anne 's eye and wished the floor would open and swallow him up .

the geography class were whisked through a continent with a speed that made them dizzy .

the grammar class were parsed and analyzed within an inch of their lives .

he peered across his book at anne , his black eyes sparkling with curiosity and mockery .

anne screamed and sprang back , as if it had been a snake , and anthony pye laughed aloud .

then a silence fell . ..y ..y a very creepy , uncomfortable silence .

but she decided not to .

who could take any comfort out of hysterics with a teacher so white-faced and so blazing-eyed standing before one ?

" who put that mouse in my desk ? " said anne .

her voice was quite low but it made a shiver go up and down paul irving 's spine .

anne paid no attention to the wretched joseph .

she looked at anthony pye , and anthony pye looked back unabashed and unashamed .

" anthony , was it you ? "

" yes , it was , " said anthony insolently .

anne took her pointer from her desk .

it was a long , heavy hardwood pointer .

" come here , anthony . "

it was far from being the most severe punishment anthony pye had ever undergone .

anne , even the stormy-souled anne she was at that moment , could not have punished any child cruelly .

but the pointer nipped keenly and finally anthony 's bravado failed him ; he winced and the tears came to his eyes .

anne , conscience-stricken , dropped the pointer and told anthony to go to his seat .

she sat down at her desk feeling ashamed , repentant , and bitterly mortified .

her quick anger was gone and she would have given much to have been able to seek relief in tears .

so all her boasts had come to this . ..y ..y she had actually whipped one of her pupils .

how jane would triumph !

and how mr harrison would chuckle !

but worse than this , bitterest thought of all , she had lost her last chance of winning anthony pye .

never would he like her now .

anne , by what somebody has called " a herculaneum effort , " kept back her tears until she got home that night .

" the trouble is , i 've got things the matter with my conscience , " sobbed anne .

" oh , this has been such a jonah day , marilla .

i 'm so ashamed of myself .

i lost my temper and whipped anthony pye . "

" i 'm glad to hear it , " said marilla with decision .

" it 's what you should have done long ago . "

" oh , no , no , marilla .

and i don't see how i can ever look those children in the face again .

i feel that i have humiliated myself to the very dust .

you don't know how cross and hateful and horrid i was .

i can't forget the expression in paul irving 's eyes . ..y ..y he looked so surprised and disappointed .

marilla passed her hard work-worn hand over the girl 's glossy , tumbled hair with a wonderful tenderness .

when anne 's sobs grew quieter she said , very gently for her ,

" you take things too much to heart , anne .

we all make mistakes . ..y ..y but people forget them .

and jonah days come to everybody .

as for anthony pye , why need you care if he does dislike you ?

he is the only one . "

" i can't help it .

i want everybody to love me and it hurts me so when anybody doesn't .

and anthony never will now .

oh , i just made an idiot of myself today , marilla .

i 'll tell you the whole story . "

marilla listened to the whole story , and if she smiled at certain parts of it anne never knew .

when the tale was ended she said briskly ,

" well , never mind .

this day 's done and there 's a new one coming tomorrow , with no mistakes in it yet , as you used to say yourself .

just come downstairs and have your supper .

you 'll see if a good cup of tea and those plum puffs i made today won't hearten you up . "

she had a good sleep that night and awakened in the morning to find herself and the world transformed .

" every morn is a fresh beginning , every morn is the world made new , "

sang anne , as she dressed .

" kind of bad walking , ain't it ?

can i take those books for you , teacher ? "

anne surrendered her books and wondered if she could possibly be awake .

anthony smiled . ..y ..y no , if the truth must be told , anthony grinned back .

mrs rachel lynde came up the next saturday and confirmed this .

" well , anne , i guess you 've won over anthony pye , that 's what .

he says he believes you are some good after all , even if you are a girl .

says that whipping you gave him was ' just as good as a man 's . ' "

" it doesn't seem right .

i 'm sure my theory of kindness can't be wrong . "

" no , but the pyes are an exception to every known rule , that 's what , " declared mrs rachel with conviction .

mr harrison said , " thought you 'd come to it , " when he heard it , and jane rubbed it in rather unmercifully .

xiii

a golden picnic

" i was just on my way over to invite you to help me celebrate my birthday on saturday , " said anne .

" your birthday ?

but your birthday was in march ! "

" that wasn't my fault , " laughed anne .

" if my parents had consulted me it would never have happened then .

i should have chosen to be born in spring , of course .

it must be delightful to come into the world with the mayflowers and violets .

you would always feel that you were their foster sister .

but since i didn't , the next best thing is to celebrate my birthday in the spring .

priscilla is coming over saturday and jane will be home .

we 'll all four start off to the woods and spend a golden day making the acquaintance of the spring .

we none of us really know her yet , but we 'll meet her back there as we never can anywhere else .

i want to explore all those fields and lonely places anyhow .

i have a conviction that there are scores of beautiful nooks there that have never really been seen although they may have been looked at .

we 'll make friends with wind and sky and sun , and bring home the spring in our hearts . "

" it sounds awfully nice , " said diana , with some inward distrust of anne 's magic of words .

" but won't it be very damp in some places yet ? "

" oh , we 'll wear rubbers , " was anne 's concession to practicalities .

" and i want you to come over early saturday morning and help me prepare lunch .

and we must have sandwiches too , though they 're not very poetical . "

over every sunlit upland and field was a delicate , flower-starred green .

their blithe voices and laughter echoed down to him .

" it 's so easy to be happy on a day like this , isn't it ? "

anne was saying , with true anneish philosophy .

" let's try to make this a really golden day , girls , a day to which we can always look back with delight .

we 're to seek for beauty and refuse to see anything else .

' begone , dull care ! '

jane , you are thinking of something that went wrong in school yesterday . "

" how do you know ? " gasped jane , amazed .

" oh , i know the expression . . .

i 've felt it often enough on my own face .

but put it out of your mind , there 's a dear .

it will keep till monday . . . or if it doesn't so much the better .

oh , girls , girls , see that patch of violets !

there 's something for memory 's picture gallery .

when i 'm eighty years old . ..y ..y if i ever am . . .

i shall shut my eyes and see those violets just as i see them now .

that 's the first good gift our day has given us . "

" if a kiss could be seen i think it would look like a violet , " said priscilla .

anne glowed .

" i 'm so glad you spoke that thought , priscilla , instead of just thinking it and keeping it to yourself .

" it would be too hot to hold some folks , " quoted jane sagely .

" i suppose it might be , but that would be their own faults for thinking nasty things .

anyhow , we can tell all our thoughts today because we are going to have nothing but beautiful thoughts .

everybody can say just what comes into her head .

that is conversation .

here 's a little path i never saw before .

let's explore it . "

the path was a winding one , so narrow that the girls walked in single file and even then the fir boughs brushed their faces .

" what a lot of elephant 's ears , " exclaimed diana .

" i 'm going to pick a big bunch , they 're so pretty . "

" how did such graceful feathery things ever come to have such a dreadful name ? " asked priscilla .

" that " was a shallow woodland pool in the center of a little open glade where the path ended .

a ring of slender young birches encircled it and little ferns fringed its margin .

" how sweet ! " said jane .

" let us dance around it like wood-nymphs , " cried anne , dropping her basket and extending her hands .

but the dance was not a success for the ground was boggy and jane 's rubbers came off .

" you can't be a wood-nymph if you have to wear rubbers , " was her decision .

" well , we must name this place before we leave it , " said anne , yielding to the indisputable logic of facts .

" everybody suggest a name and we 'll draw lots .

diana ? "

" birch pool , " suggested diana promptly .

" crystal lake , " said jane .

anne 's selection was " the fairies ' mirror . "

the names were written on strips of birch bark with a pencil schoolma'am jane produced from her pocket , and placed in anne 's hat .

then priscilla shut her eyes and drew one .

" crystal lake , " read jane triumphantly .

crystal lake it was , and if anne thought that chance had played the pool a shabby trick she did not say so .

pushing through the undergrowth beyond , the girls came out to the young green seclusion of mr silas sloane 's back pasture .

across it they found the entrance to a lane striking up through the woods and voted to explore it also .

it rewarded their quest with a succession of pretty surprises .

first , skirting mr sloane 's pasture , came an archway of wild cherry trees all in bloom .

the girls swung their hats on their arms and wreathed their hair with the creamy , fluffy blossoms .

" this is where the bad wood elves dwell , " whispered anne .

" they are impish and malicious but they can't harm us , because they are not allowed to do evil in the spring .

the good fairies always dwell in the sunshiny places . "

" i wish there really were fairies , " said jane .

" wouldn't it be nice to have three wishes granted you . ..y ..y or even only one ?

what would you wish for , girls , if you could have a wish granted ?

i 'd wish to be rich and beautiful and clever . "

" i 'd wish to be tall and slender , " said diana .

" i would wish to be famous , " said priscilla .

anne thought of her hair and then dismissed the thought as unworthy .

" i 'd wish it might be spring all the time and in everybody 's heart and all our lives , " she said .

" but that , " said priscilla , " would be just wishing this world were like heaven . "

" only like a part of heaven .

in the other parts there would be summer and autumn . . . yes , and a bit of winter , too .

i think i want glittering snowy fields and white frosts in heaven sometimes .

don't you , jane ? "

" i . . .

i don't know , " said jane uncomfortably .

but she never thought about heaven any more than she could help , for all that .

" minnie may asked me the other day if we would wear our best dresses every day in heaven , " laughed diana .

" and didn't you tell her we would ? " asked anne .

" mercy , no !

i told her we wouldn't be thinking of dresses at all there . "

" oh , i think we will . ..y ..y a little , " said anne earnestly .

" there'll be plenty of time in all eternity for it without neglecting more important things .

i believe we 'll all wear beautiful dresses . ..y ..y or i suppose raiment would be a more suitable way of speaking .

i do love pink so and i can never wear it in this world . "

beyond were the " back fields " of the farms that ran out to the upper carmody road .

a tumbledown stone dyke , overgrown with mosses and grass , surrounded it .

along the eastern side ran a row of garden cherry trees , white as a snowdrift .

" oh , how perfectly lovely ! " three of the girls cried .

anne only gazed in eloquent silence .

" how in the world does it happen that there ever was a garden back here ? " said priscilla in amazement .

" it must be hester gray 's garden , " said diana .

you 've heard the story , anne ? "

" no , but the name seems familiar to me . "

" oh , you 've seen it in the graveyard .

she is buried down there in the poplar corner .

jordan gray is buried right beside her but there 's no stone to him .

it 's a wonder marilla never told you about it , anne .

to be sure , it happened thirty years ago and everybody has forgotten . "

" well , if there 's a story we must have it , " said anne .

" let's sit right down here among the narcissi and diana will tell it .

why , girls , there are hundreds of them . ..y ..y they 've spread over everything .

it looks as if the garden were carpeted with moonshine and sunshine combined .

this is a discovery worth making .

to think that i 've lived within a mile of this place for six years and have never seen it before !

now , diana . "

" long ago , " began diana , " this farm belonged to old mr david gray .

he didn't live on it . ..y ..y he lived where silas sloane lives now .

she was working in a store and she hated it .

she 'd been brought up in the country and she always wanted to get back .

so he brought her to avonlea .

she never went out much and hardly anybody went to see her except mother and mrs lynde .

jordan made her this garden and she was crazy about it and spent most of her time in it .

she wasn't much of a housekeeper but she had a knack with flowers .

and then she got sick .

mother says she thinks she was in consumption before she ever came here .

she never really laid up but just grew weaker and weaker all the time .

jordan wouldn't have anybody to wait on her .

he did it all himself and mother says he was as tender and gentle as a woman .

every day he 'd wrap her in a shawl and carry her out to the garden and she 'd lie there on a bench quite happy .

and her prayer was answered .

" oh , what a dear story , " sighed anne , wiping away her tears .

" what became of jordan ? " asked priscilla .

" he sold the farm after hester died and went back to boston .

mr jabez sloane bought the farm and hauled the little house out to the road .

jordan died about ten years after and he was brought home and buried beside hester . "

" i can't understand how she could have wanted to live back here , away from everything , " said jane .

" oh , i can easily understand that , " said anne thoughtfully .

" i wouldn't want it myself for a steady thing , because , although i love the fields and woods , i love people too .

but i can understand it in hester .

she just wanted to escape from it all to some still , green , friendly place where she could rest .

and she got just what she wanted , which is something very few people do , i believe .

" she set out those cherry trees over there , " said diana .

" i 'm so glad we came this way , " said anne , the shining-eyed .

" this is my adopted birthday , you know , and this garden and its story is the birthday gift it has given me .

did your mother ever tell you what hester gray looked like , diana ? "

" no . ..y ..y only just that she was pretty . "

" i 'm rather glad of that , because i can imagine what she looked like , without being hampered by facts .

" look do you see that poem ? " she said suddenly , pointing .

" where ? "

jane and diana stared , as if expecting to see runic rhymes on the birch trees .

oh , it 's the most beautiful poem i ever saw . "

" i should rather call it a picture , " said jane .

" a poem is lines and verses . "

" oh dear me , no . "

anne shook her head with its fluffy wild cherry coronal positively .

the real poem is the soul within them . ..y ..y and that beautiful bit is the soul of an unwritten poem .

it is not every day one sees a soul . ..y ..y even of a poem . "

" i wonder what a soul . ..y ..y a person 's soul . ..y ..y would look like , " said priscilla dreamily .

" like that , i should think , " answered anne , pointing to a radiance of sifted sunlight streaming through a birch tree .

" only with shape and features of course .

i like to fancy souls as being made of light .

" i read somewhere once that souls were like flowers , " said priscilla .

" then your soul is a golden narcissus , " said anne , " and diana 's is like a red , red rose .

jane 's is an apple blossom , pink and wholesome and sweet . "

" and your own is a white violet , with purple streaks in its heart , " finished priscilla .

jane whispered to diana that she really could not understand what they were talking about .

could she ?

minstrel robins were whistling in the firs and the frogs were singing in the marshes .

all the basins among the hills were brimmed with topaz and emerald light .

" it has been a truly golden day , " said priscilla .

" i 'm really awfully fond of the woods myself , " said jane .

anne said nothing .

she was looking afar into the western sky and thinking of little hester gray .

xiv

a danger averted

" i had her last week , for , though she 's too slow to stop quick , she 's better than nobody .

but she 's sick and can't come .

timothy 's sitting there , too , coughing and complaining .

he 's been dying for ten years and he 'll go on dying for ten years more .

they 're a terrible shiftless family and what is to become of them i don't know , but perhaps providence does . "

mrs lynde sighed as if she rather doubted the extent of providential knowledge on the subject .

" marilla was in about her eyes again tuesday , wasn't she ?

what did the specialist think of them ? " she continued .

" he was much pleased , " said anne brightly .

" he says there is a great improvement in them and he thinks the danger of her losing her sight completely is past .

but he says she 'll never be able to read much or do any fine hand-work again .

how are your preparations for your bazaar coming on ? "

the ladies ' aid society was preparing for a fair and supper , and mrs lynde was the head and front of the enterprise .

" pretty well . ..y ..y and that reminds me .

we 're collecting old-fashioned fixings everywhere .

i suppose marilla will let us have her brass candlesticks ?

and we want all the old dishes we can get .

mrs allan is specially set on having a real blue willow ware platter if we can find one .

but nobody seems to have one .

do you know where we could get one ? "

" miss josephine barry has one .

i 'll write and ask her if she 'll lend it for the occasion , " said anne .

" well , i wish you would .

i guess we 'll have the supper in about a fortnight 's time .

uncle abe andrews is prophesying rain and storms for about that time ; and that 's a pretty sure sign we 'll have fine weather . "

he was , in fact , considered in the light of a standing joke , for few of his weather predictions were ever fulfilled .

no ; they just asked uncle abe what it was going to be tomorrow and expected the opposite .

nothing daunted , uncle abe kept on prophesying .

the tories are bribing right and left , so they might as well be given a chance to spend their money honestly for once . "

anne was a red-hot conservative , out of loyalty to matthew 's memory , but she said nothing .

she knew better than to get mrs lynde started on politics .

she had a letter for marilla , postmarked from a town in british columbia .

" it 's probably from the children 's uncle , " she said excitedly , when she got home .

" oh , marilla , i wonder what he says about them . "

" the best plan might be to open it and see , " said marilla curtly .

a close observer might have thought that she was excited also , but she would rather have died than show it .

anne tore open the letter and glanced over the somewhat untidy and poorly written contents .

he wants to know if we can keep them till the fall and he 'll try and take them then .

we will , of course , won't we marilla ? "

" anyhow they 're not so much trouble as they were . ..y ..y or else we 've got used to them .

davy has improved a great deal . "

he looked very guilty when anne pounced on him and whisked him out of the closet .

" yes , i knew it was wrong , " admitted davy uncomfortably , " but plum jam is awful nice , anne .

i just peeped in and it looked so good i thought i 'd take just a weeny taste .

i stuck my finger in . . . "

anne groaned . ..y ..y " and licked it clean .

and it was so much gooder than i 'd ever thought that i got a spoon and just sailed in . "

" anyhow , there 'll be plenty of jam in heaven , that 's one comfort , " he said complacently .

anne nipped a smile in the bud .

" perhaps there will . ..y ..y if we want it , " she said , " but what makes you think so ? "

" why , it 's in the catechism , " said davy .

" oh , no , there is nothing like that in the catechism , davy . "

" but i tell you there is , " persisted davy .

" it was in that question marilla taught me last sunday .

' why should we love god ? '

it says , ' because he makes preserves , and redeems us . '

preserves is just a holy way of saying jam . "

" i must get a drink of water , " said anne hastily .

" well , i thought it was too good to be true , " he said at last , with a sigh of disappointed conviction .

" and besides , i didn't see when he 'd find time to make jam if it 's one endless sabbath day , as the hymn says .

i don't believe i want to go to heaven .

won't there ever be any saturdays in heaven , anne ? "

" yes , saturdays , and every other kind of beautiful days .

davy and dora were taught a hymn , a catechism question , and two bible verses every sunday .

dora learned meekly and recited like a little machine , with perhaps as much understanding or interest as if she were one .

davy , on the contrary , had a lively curiosity , and frequently asked questions which made marilla tremble for his fate .

and he thinks it will be horrid to wear dresses and i think so too .

why can't men angels wear trousers , anne ?

chester sloane is interested in those things , ' cause they 're going to make a minister of him .

she thought a minister was such a ' spectable thing to have in a family .

i ain't going to be a minister .

i 'm going to be a storekeeper , like mr blair , and keep heaps of candy and bananas .

but i 'd rather like going to your kind of a heaven if they 'd let me play a mouth organ instead of a harp .

do you s'pose they would ? "

" yes , i think they would if you wanted it , " was all anne could trust herself to say .

the a.v.i.s. met at mr harmon andrews ' that evening and a full attendance had been requested , since important business was to be discussed .

the a.v.i.s. was in a flourishing condition , and had already accomplished wonders .

the result was that there were long strips of smooth velvet turf where once had been unsightly undergrowth or brush .

gertie had a habit of being late . ..y ..y " to make her entrance more effective , " spiteful people said .

what do you think ?

mr judson parker is going to rent all the road fence of his farm to a patent medicine company to paint advertisements on . "

for once in her life gertie pye made all the sensation she desired .

if she had thrown a bomb among the complacent improvers she could hardly have made more .

" it can't be true , " said anne blankly .

" that 's just what i said when i heard it first , don't you know , " said gertie , who was enjoying herself hugely .

" i said it couldn't be true . ..y ..y that judson parker wouldn't have the heart to do it , don't you know .

but father met him this afternoon and asked him about it and he said it was true .

just fancy !

the improvers did know , all too well .

even the least imaginative among them could picture the grotesque effect of half a mile of board fence adorned with such advertisements .

all thought of church and school grounds vanished before this new danger .

parliamentary rules and regulations were forgotten , and anne , in despair , gave up trying to keep minutes at all .

everybody talked at once and fearful was the hubbub .

" i don't know how you 're going to prevent him , " exclaimed jane bitterly .

" everybody knows what judson parker is .

he 'd do anything for money .

he hasn't a spark of public spirit or any sense of the beautiful . "

the prospect looked rather unpromising .

judson parker and his sister were the only parkers in avonlea , so that no leverage could be exerted by family connections .

martha parker was a lady of all too certain age who disapproved of young people in general and the improvers in particular .

judson was a jovial , smooth-spoken man , so uniformly goodnatured and bland that it was surprising how few friends he had .

perhaps he had got the better in too many business transactions . ..y ..y which seldom makes for popularity .

he was reputed to be very " sharp " and it was the general opinion that he " hadn't much principle . "

" is there nobody who has any influence over him ? " asked anne despairingly .

" he goes to see louisa spencer at white sands , " suggested carrie sloane .

" perhaps she could coax him not to rent his fences . "

" not she , " said gilbert emphatically .

" i know louisa spencer well .

she doesn't ' believe ' in village improvement societies , but she does believe in dollars and cents .

she 'd be more likely to urge judson on than to dissuade him . "

" better send anne alone , " said oliver sloane .

" she can talk judson over if anybody can . "

anne protested .

she was willing to go and do the talking ; but she must have others with her " for moral support . "

diana and jane were therefore appointed to support her morally and the improvers broke up , buzzing like angry bees with indignation .

the committee waited on judson parker the next afternoon .

anne pleaded eloquently against his nefarious design and jane and diana supported her morally and valiantly .

" but i 'll tell what i will do , " he said , with a twinkle in his light , full eyes .

" i 'll tell the agent he must use only handsome , tasty colors . ..y ..y red and yellow and so on .

i 'll tell him he mustn't paint the ads blue on any account . "

the vanquished committee retired , thinking things not lawful to be uttered .

" i wonder if mr allan could do anything , " reflected diana .

anne shook her head .

" no , it 's no use to worry mr allan , especially now when the baby 's so sick .

judson would slip away from him as smoothly as from us , although he has taken to going to church quite regularly just now .

that is simply because louisa spencer 's father is an elder and very particular about such things . "

" judson parker is the only man in avonlea who would dream of renting his fences , " said jane indignantly .

" even levi boulter or lorenzo white would never stoop to that , tightfisted as they are .

they would have too much respect for public opinion . "

public opinion was certainly down on judson parker when the facts became known , but that did not help matters much .

jane and diana stared as if they found it hard to believe their ears .

anne had no explanation to give .

two men were sitting in their buggies , reined off to the side of the road , just at the entrance of the path .

he was an agent for agricultural implements and a prominent personage in matters political .

i suppose you wouldn't object to having it back , eh ? "

a man must look out for his own interests in these hard times . "

both saw anne at this moment and conversation abruptly ceased .

anne bowed frostily and walked on , with her chin slightly more tilted than usual .

soon judson parker overtook her .

" have a lift , anne ? " he inquired genially .

his face reddened and he twitched his reins angrily ; but the next second prudential considerations checked him .

he looked uneasily at anne , as she walked steadily on , glancing neither to the right nor to the left .

had she heard corcoran 's unmistakable offer and his own too plain acceptance of it ?

confound corcoran !

if he couldn't put his meaning into less dangerous phrases he 'd get into trouble some of these long-come-shorts .

and confound redheaded school-ma'ams with a habit of popping out of beechwoods where they had no business to be .

judson parker knew that mr spencer looked somewhat askance at him as it was ; he could not afford to take any risks .

" ahem . . .

anne , i 've been wanting to see you about that little matter we were discussing the other day .

i 've decided not to let my fences to that company after all .

a society with an aim like yours ought to be encouraged . "

anne thawed out the merest trifle .

" thank you , " she said .

" and ..y ..y ..y and ..y ..y ..y you needn't mention that little conversation of mine with jerry . "

" just so . ..y ..y just so , " agreed judson , imagining that they understood each other beautifully .

" i didn't suppose you would .

of course , i was only stringing jerry . ..y ..y he thinks he 's so all-fired cute and smart .

i 've no intention of voting for amesbury .

i 'm going to vote for grant as i 've always done . ..y ..y you 'll see that when the election comes off .

i just led jerry on to see if he would commit himself .

and it 's all right about the fence . ..y ..y you can tell the improvers that . "

" i wouldn't have mentioned the disgraceful thing to a soul anyhow , so my conscience is clear on that score .

i really don't know who or what is to be thanked for this .

xv

the beginning of vacation

she dropped the key into her pocket with a sigh of satisfaction .

anne felt at peace with the world and herself as she walked down the hill with her basket of flowers in her hand .

since the earliest mayflowers anne had never missed her weekly pilgrimage to matthew 's grave .

she could never forget the kind old man who had been the first to give her the love and sympathy her starved childhood had craved .

he swung down and joined anne , smiling ; but there were traces of tears on his cheeks .

" i 'm going there , too . . .

i 'm taking this bouquet of geraniums to put on grandpa irving 's grave for grandma .

but don't you think she 'll know all about it , just the same ? "

" yes , i am sure she will , paul . "

" you see , teacher , it 's just three years today since my little mother died .

sometimes it seems to me that i just can't bear it , it hurts so . "

paul 's voice quivered and his lip trembled .

he looked down at his roses , hoping that his teacher would not notice the tears in his eyes .

" no , indeed , i wouldn't . ..y ..y that 's just the way i feel .

you 're so good at understanding , teacher .

nobody else understands so well . ..y ..y not even grandma , although she 's so good to me .

father understood pretty well , but still i couldn't talk much to him about mother , because it made him feel so bad .

when he put his hand over his face i always knew it was time to stop .

grandmothers are better , next to mothers .

someday , when i 'm brought up , i 'll go back to father and we 're never going to be parted again . "

paul had talked so much to anne about his mother and father that she felt as if she had known them .

" father 's not very easy to get acquainted with , " paul had said once .

" i never got really acquainted with him until after my little mother died .

but he 's splendid when you do get to know him .

i love him the best in all the world , and grandma irving next , and then you , teacher .

i 'd love you next to father if it wasn't my duty to love grandma irving best , because she 's doing so much for me .

you know , teacher .

i wish she would leave the lamp in my room till i go to sleep , though .

she takes it right out as soon as she tucks me up because she says i mustn't be a coward .

i 'm not scared , but i 'd rather have the light .

my little mother used always to sit beside me and hold my hand till i went to sleep .

i expect she spoiled me .

mothers do sometimes , you know . "

no , anne did not know this , although she might imagine it .

anne could not remember her mother and for this reason she almost envied paul .

i believe it has come already , for grandma is keeping the bookcase drawer locked and that is something new .

and when i asked her why , she just looked mysterious and said little boys mustn't be too curious .

it 's very exciting to have a birthday , isn't it ?

i 'll be eleven .

you 'd never think it to look at me , would you ?

grandma says i 'm very small for my age and that it 's all because i don't eat enough porridge .

i do my very best , but grandma gives such generous platefuls . ..y ..y there 's nothing mean about grandma , i can tell you .

i 've prayed every night that god would give me enough grace to enable me to eat every bit of my porridge in the mornings .

but sometimes , " concluded paul with a sigh and a meditative air " i really think porridge will be the death of me . "

anne permitted herself a smile , since paul was not looking at her .

all avonlea knew that old mrs irving was bringing her grandson up in accordance with the good , old-fashioned methods of diet and morals .

" let us hope not , dear , " she said cheerfully .

" how are your rock people coming on ?

does the oldest twin still continue to behave himself ? "

" he has to , " said paul emphatically .

" he knows i won't associate with him if he doesn't .

he is really full of wickedness , i think . "

" and has nora found out about the golden lady yet ? "

" no ; but i think she suspects .

i 'm almost sure she watched me the last time i went to the cave .

but if she is determined to have her feelings hurt it can't be helped . "

" if i were to go to the shore some night with you do you think i could see your rock people too ? "

paul shook his head gravely .

" no , i don't think you could see my rock people .

i 'm the only person who can see them .

but you could see rock people of your own .

you 're one of the kind that can .

we 're both that kind .

you know , teacher , " he added , squeezing her hand chummily .

" isn't it splendid to be that kind , teacher ? "

" splendid , " anne agreed , gray shining eyes looking down into blue shining ones .

anne and paul both knew

" how fair the realm imagination opens to the view , "

and both knew the way to that happy land .

it must be the gift of the good fairies at birth and the years can never deface it or take it away .

it is better to possess it , living in a garret , than to be the inhabitant of palaces without it .

the avonlea graveyard was as yet the grass-grown solitude it had always been .

ever since the day of the spring picnic anne had put flowers on hester 's grave when she visited matthew 's .

" i thought you would like them better than any others , dear , " she said softly .

anne was still sitting there when a shadow fell over the grass and she looked up to see mrs allan .

they walked home together .

mrs allan 's face was not the face of the girlbride whom the minister had brought to avonlea five years before .

it had lost some of its bloom and youthful curves , and there were fine , patient lines about eyes and mouth .

" i suppose you are looking forward to your vacation , anne ? " she said , as they left the graveyard .

anne nodded .

" yes . . . .

i could roll the word as a sweet morsel under my tongue .

i think the summer is going to be lovely .

for one thing , mrs morgan is coming to the island in july and priscilla is going to bring her up .

i feel one of my old ' thrills ' at the mere thought . "

" i hope you 'll have a good time , anne .

you 've worked very hard this past year and you have succeeded . "

" oh , i don't know .

i 've come so far short in so many things .

i haven't done what i meant to do when i began to teach last fall .

i haven't lived up to my ideals . "

" none of us ever do , " said mrs allan with a sigh .

" but then , anne , you know what lowell says , ' not failure but low aim is crime . '

we must have ideals and try to live up to them , even if we never quite succeed .

life would be a sorry business without them .

with them it 's grand and great .

hold fast to your ideals , anne . "

" i shall try .

but i have to let go most of my theories , " said anne , laughing a little .

" even the theory on corporal punishment , " teased mrs allan .

but anne flushed .

" i shall never forgive myself for whipping anthony . "

" nonsense , dear , he deserved it .

and it agreed with him .

you have had no trouble with him since and he has come to think there 's nobody like you .

your kindness won his love after the idea that a ' girl was no good ' was rooted out of his stubborn mind . "

" he may have deserved it , but that is not the point .

but the truth is , mrs allan , that i just flew into a temper and whipped him because of that .

i wasn't thinking whether it was just or unjust . ..y ..y even if he hadn't deserved it i 'd have done it just the same .

that is what humiliates me . "

" well , we all make mistakes , dear , so just put it behind you .

we should regret our mistakes and learn from them , but never carry them forward into the future with us .

there goes gilbert blythe on his wheel . ..y ..y home for his vacation too , i suppose .

how are you and he getting on with your studies ? "

" pretty well .

we plan to finish the virgil tonight . ..y ..y there are only twenty lines to do .

then we are not going to study any more until september . "

" do you think you will ever get to college ? "

" oh , i don't know . "

anne looked dreamily afar to the opal-tinted horizon .

and then there are the twins . ..y ..y somehow i don't believe their uncle will ever really send for them .

we make our own lives wherever we are , after all . ..y ..y college can only help us to do it more easily .

they are broad or narrow according to what we put into them , not what we get out .

do you know , mrs allan , i 'm so thankful for friendship .

it beautifies life so much . "

i fear the name of friendship is often degraded to a kind of intimacy that has nothing of real friendship in it . "

" yes . ..y ..y like gertie pye 's and julia bell 's .

i think it is desecration to call that friendship .

then friendship would be the most beautiful thing in the world . "

" friendship is very beautiful , " smiled mrs allan , " but some day . . . "

then she paused abruptly .

so she left her sentence for the future years to finish .

xvi

the substance of things hoped for

you 've no idea . "

" i 'll get you a piece of bread and butter in a minute , " said anne absently .

" but i ain't bread and butter hungry , " said davy in a disgusted tone .

" i 'm plum cake hungry . "

you know it 's one of marilla 's rules that you can't have anything but bread and butter between meals . "

" well , gimme a piece then . ..y ..y please . "

davy had been at last taught to say " please , " but he generally tacked it on as an afterthought .

he looked with approval at the generous slice anne presently brought to him .

" you always put such a nice lot of butter on it , anne .

marilla spreads it pretty thin .

it slips down a lot easier when there 's plenty of butter . "

the slice " slipped down " with tolerable ease , judging from its rapid disappearance .

davy slid head first off the sofa , turned a double somersault on the rug , and then sat up and announced decidedly ,

" anne , i 've made up my mind about heaven .

i don't want to go there . "

" why not ? " asked anne gravely .

" cause heaven is in simon fletcher 's garret , and i don't like simon fletcher . "

" heaven in . . .

simon fletcher 's garret ! " gasped anne , too amazed even to laugh .

" davy keith , whatever put such an extraordinary idea into your head ? "

" milty boulter says that 's where it is .

it was last sunday in sunday school .

the lesson was about elijah and elisha , and i up and asked miss rogerson where heaven was .

miss rogerson looked awful offended .

i wish you could think first and do things afterwards , ' cause then you wouldn't do them .

but milty didn't mean to be disrespeckful .

he just couldn't think of the name of the thing .

miss rogerson said heaven was where god was and i wasn't to ask questions like that .

milty nudged me and said in a whisper , ' heaven 's in uncle simon 's garret and i 'll esplain about it on the road home . '

so when we was coming home he esplained .

milty 's a great hand at esplaining things .

even if he don't know anything about a thing he 'll make up a lot of stuff and so you get it esplained all the same .

his mother is mrs simon 's sister and he went with her to the funeral when his cousin , jane ellen , died .

the minister said she 'd gone to heaven , though milty says she was lying right before them in the coffin .

but he s'posed they carried the coffin to the garret afterwards .

milty knew there wasn't anything but the garret over the ceiling , so that 's how he found out .

and he 's been awful scared to go to his uncle simon 's ever since . "

anne took davy on her knee and did her best to straighten out this theological tangle also .

dora was an industrious little soul and never happier than when " helping " in various small tasks suited to her chubby fingers .

she fed chickens , picked up chips , wiped dishes , and ran errands galore .

" oh , marilla , what do you think ?

oh , marilla , isn't it wonderful ?

i can hardly believe i 'm not dreaming . "

" i daresay mrs morgan is a lot like other people , " said marilla drily , although she did feel a trifle excited herself .

mrs morgan was a famous woman and a visit from her was no commonplace occurrence .

" they 'll be here to dinner , then ? "

" yes ; and oh , marilla , may i cook every bit of the dinner myself ?

you won't mind , will you ? "

you 're quite welcome to the job . "

" you 'll likely come to grief if you do . "

but i want to have everything as nice and dainty as possible .

davy-boy , don't leave those peapods on the back stairs . ..y ..y someone might slip on them .

i 'll have the two white roosters .

but i know they would have to be sacrificed sometime , and surely there couldn't be a worthier occasion than this .

but oh , marilla , i cannot kill them . ..y ..y not even for mrs morgan 's sake .

i 'll have to ask john henry carter to come over and do it for me . "

it 's awful jolly fun to see them hopping about after their heads are cut off . "

i 'll make the pies and lady fingers tomorrow and do up my white muslin dress .

and i must tell diana tonight , for she 'll want to do up hers .

it will be such a delicate compliment , don't you think ?

davy , dear , you mustn't poke peapods into the cracks of the floor .

i must ask mr and mrs. allan and miss stacy to dinner , too , for they 're all very anxious to meet mrs morgan .

it 's so fortunate she 's coming while miss stacy is here .

davy dear , don't sail the peapods in the water bucket . ..y ..y go out to the trough .

" that 's a good sign , " agreed marilla .

" oh , anne , mayn't i help you cook the dinner ? " implored diana .

" you know i can make splendid lettuce salad . "

" indeed you , may " said anne unselfishly .

" and i shall want you to help me decorate too .

i mean to have the parlor simply a bower of blossoms . ..y ..y and the dining table is to be adorned with wild roses .

oh , i do hope everything will go smoothly .

mrs morgan 's heroines never get into scrapes or are taken at a disadvantage , and they are always so selfpossessed and such good housekeepers .

they seem to be born good housekeepers .

you remember that gertrude in ' edgewood days ' kept house for her father when she was only eight years old .

when i was eight years old i hardly knew how to do a thing except bring up children .

and i 'm so anxious about my nose .

there are seven freckles on it , as you can see .

they came at the a.v.i s . picnic , when i went around in the sun without my hat .

i can't recall a freckled one among them . "

" yours are not very noticeable , " comforted diana .

" try a little lemon juice on them tonight . "

" but i want to feel that it is in perfect order , even if she isn't to see it , " anne told marilla .

' in the elder days of art builders wrought with greatest care each minute and unseen part , for the gods see everywhere , '

and so they always kept their cellar stairs scrubbed and never forgot to sweep under the beds .

i should have a guilty conscience if i thought this closet was in disorder when mrs morgan was in the house .

ever since we read ' golden keys , ' last april , diana and i have taken that verse for our motto too . "

i 've been picking chickens with my hands but in imagination i 've been roaming the milky way . "

" i thought you 'd scattered more feathers over the floor than usual , " remarked marilla .

then anne put davy to bed and made him promise that he would behave perfectly the next day .

" it 's a bargain , " said davy .

" i 'll be good , you bet .

i meant to go over to mr harrison 's and fire peas from my new popgun at ginger but another day 'll do as well .

i espect it will be just like sunday , but a picnic at the shore 'll make up for that . "

xvii

a chapter of accidents

anne woke three times in the night and made pilgrimages to her window to make sure that uncle abe 's prediction was not coming true .

finally the morning dawned pearly and lustrous in a sky full of silver sheen and radiance , and the wonderful day had arrived .

" you look simply sweet , " said anne admiringly .

diana sighed .

" but i 've had to let out every one of my dresses again .

i weigh four pounds more than i did in july .

anne , where will this end ?

mrs morgan 's heroines are all tall and slender . "

" well , let's forget our troubles and think of our mercies , " said anne gaily .

do you think the lemon juice did any good ? "

" we 'll decorate the parlor first .

there may have been two happier and more excited girls somewhere in canada or the united states at that moment , but i doubt it .

every snip of the scissors , as rose and peony and bluebell fell , seemed to chirp , " mrs morgan is coming today . "

even anne had never been able to infuse much grace into it , for marilla would not permit any alterations .

a great blue bowlful of snowballs overflowed on the polished table .

the shining black mantelpiece was heaped with roses and ferns .

the table was set in the sitting room , with marilla 's finest linen and the best china , glass , and silver .

you may be perfectly certain that every article placed on it was polished or scoured to the highest possible perfection of gloss and glitter .

anne prepared the potatoes and diana got the peas and beans ready .

and what about davy all this time ?

was he redeeming his promise to be good ?

he was , indeed .

to be sure , he insisted on remaining in the kitchen , for his curiosity wanted to see all that went on .

" we 'd better go and dress now , " said anne , " for they may be here by twelve .

we must have dinner at sharp one , for the soup must be served as soon as it 's done . "

serious indeed were the toilet rites presently performed in the east gable .

when they were ready they looked quite as sweet and trim and girlish as ever did any of " mrs morgan 's heroines . "

" all mrs morgan 's heroines converse so beautifully .

but i 'm afraid i 'll be tongue-tied and stupid .

and i 'll be sure to say ' i seen . '

i haven't often said it since miss stacy taught here ; but in moments of excitement it 's sure to pop out .

anne , if i were to say ' i seen ' before mrs morgan i 'd die of mortification .

and it would be almost as bad to have nothing to say . "

and , to do her justice , there wasn't .

anne shrouded her muslin glories in a big apron and went down to concoct her soup .

marilla had dressed herself and the twins , and looked more excited than she had ever been known to look before .

at half past twelve the allans and miss stacy came .

everything was going well but anne was beginning to feel nervous .

it was surely time for priscilla and mrs morgan to arrive .

" suppose they don't come at all ? " she said piteously .

" don't suppose it .

it would be too mean , " said diana , who , however , was beginning to have uncomfortable misgivings on the subject .

" anne , " said marilla , coming out from the parlor , " miss stacy wants to see miss barry 's willowware platter . "

anne hastened to the sitting room closet to get the platter .

she had , in accordance with her promise to mrs lynde , written to miss barry of charlottetown , asking for the loan of it .

she carried the platter carefully to the front door where her guests were enjoying the cool breeze that blew up from the brook .

davy had finished ravelling out his herring net and had wound the twine into a ball .

the result in this instance was disastrous .

davy slipped and came sprawling squarely down on the lemon pies .

his clean blouse was ruined for that time and the pies for all time .

it is , however , an ill wind that blows nobody good , and the pig was eventually the gainer by davy 's mischance .

didn't i ? "

" i forgot , " whimpered davy .

" you 've told me not to do such an awful lot of things that i can't remember them all . "

" well , you march upstairs and stay there till after dinner .

perhaps you 'll get them sorted out in your memory by that time .

no , anne , never you mind interceding for him .

i 'm not punishing him because he spoiled your pies . ..y ..y that was an accident .

i 'm punishing him for his disobedience .

go , davy , i say . "

" ain't i to have any dinner ? " wailed davy .

" you can come down after dinner is over and have yours in the kitchen . "

" oh , all right , " said davy , somewhat comforted .

" i know anne 'll save some nice bones for me , won't you , anne ?

' cause you know i didn't mean to fall on the pies .

say , anne , since they are spoiled can't i take some of the pieces upstairs with me ? "

" no , no lemon pie for you , master davy , " said marilla , pushing him toward the hall .

" what shall we do for dessert ? " asked anne , looking regretfully at the wreck and ruin .

" get out a crock of strawberry preserves , " said marilla consolingly .

" there 's plenty of whipped cream left in the bowl for it . "

one o'clock came . ..y ..y but no priscilla or mrs morgan .

anne was in an agony .

" i don't believe they 're coming after all , " said marilla crossly .

anne and diana sought comfort in each other 's eyes .

at half past one marilla again emerged from the parlor .

" girls , we must have dinner .

everybody is hungry and it 's no use waiting any longer .

priscilla and mrs morgan are not coming , that 's plain , and nothing is being improved by waiting . "

anne and diana set about lifting the dinner , with all the zest gone out of the performance .

" i don't believe i 'll be able to eat a mouthful , " said diana dolefully .

" nor i ..y but i hope everything will be nice for miss stacy 's and mr and mrs. allan 's sakes , " said anne listlessly .

when diana dished the peas she tasted them and a very peculiar expression crossed her face .

" anne , did you put sugar in these peas ? "

" yes , " said anne , mashing the potatoes with the air of one expected to do her duty .

" i put a spoonful of sugar in .

we always do .

don't you like it ? "

" but i put a spoonful in too , when i set them on the stove , " said diana .

anne dropped her masher and tasted the peas also .

then she made a grimace .

" how awful !

i never dreamed you had put sugar in , because i knew your mother never does .

i happened to think of it , for a wonder . . .

i 'm always forgetting it . ..y ..y so i popped a spoonful in . "

the guests in the parlor heard peal after peal of laughter from the kitchen , but they never knew what the fun was about .

there were no green peas on the dinner table that day , however .

let's carry the things in and get it over . "

it cannot be said that that dinner was a notable success socially .

the allans and miss stacy exerted themselves to save the situation and marilla 's customary placidity was not noticeably ruffled .

but anne and diana , between their disappointment and the reaction from their excitement of the forenoon , could neither talk nor eat .

there is an old proverb that really seems at times to be inspired . ..y ..y " it never rains but it pours . "

the measure of that day 's tribulations was not yet full .

everybody ran out into the hall .

anne gave a shriek of dismay .

" davy , " said marilla ominously , " did you throw that conch down on purpose ? "

" no , i never did , " whimpered davy .

" don't blame davy , " said anne , gathering up the fragments with trembling fingers .

" it was my fault .

i set that platter there and forgot all about it .

i am properly punished for my carelessness ; but oh , what will miss barry say ? "

mrs morgan had sprained her ankle so severely that she could not leave her room .

she has to be there by a certain date . "

but there . ..y ..y that speech sounds as pessimistic as miss eliza andrews and i 'm ashamed of making it .

and i suppose the events of today have a funny side too .

perhaps when diana and i are old and gray we shall be able to laugh over them .

but i feel that i can't expect to do it before then , for it has truly been a bitter disappointment . "

" i know i 'm too much inclined that , way " agreed anne ruefully .

but really , marilla , the flying part is glorious as long as it lasts . ..y ..y it 's like soaring through a sunset .

i think it almost pays for the thud . "

" well , maybe it does , " admitted marilla .

" i 'd rather walk calmly along and do without both flying and thud .

but everybody has her own way of living . . .

what are you going to do about miss barry 's platter ? "

" pay her back the twenty dollars she paid for it , i suppose .

i 'm so thankful it wasn't a cherished heirloom because then no money could replace it . "

" maybe you could find one like it somewhere and buy it for her . "

" i 'm afraid not .

platters as old as that are very scarce .

mrs lynde couldn't find one anywhere for the supper .

marilla , look at that big star over mr harrison 's maple grove , with all that holy hush of silvery sky about it .

it gives me a feeling that is like a prayer .

" where 's davy ? " said marilla , with an indifferent glance at the star .

" in bed .

i 've promised to take him and dora to the shore for a picnic tomorrow .

of course , the original agreement was that he must be good .

but he tried to be good . ..y ..y and i hadn't the heart to disappoint him . "

" you 'll drown yourself or the twins , rowing about the pond in that flat , " grumbled marilla .

" i 've lived here for sixty years and i 've never been on the pond yet . "

" well , it 's never too late to mend , " said anne roguishly .

" suppose you come with us tomorrow .

we 'll shut green gables up and spend the whole day at the shore , daffing the world aside . "

" no , thank you , " said marilla , with indignant emphasis .

" i 'd be a nice sight , wouldn't i , rowing down the pond in a flat ?

i think i hear rachel pronouncing on it .

there 's mr harrison driving away somewhere .

do you suppose there is any truth in the gossip that mr harrison is going to see isabella andrews ? "

" no , i 'm sure there isn't .

i don't believe mr harrison will ever marry .

he seems to have a prejudice against marriage . "

" well , you can never tell about those old bachelors .

" i think he only put it on because he wanted to conclude a business deal with harmon andrews , " said anne .

i really feel sorry for mr harrison ; i don't believe he feels satisfied with his life .

it must be very lonely to have no one to care about except a parrot , don't you think ?

but i notice mr harrison doesn't like to be pitied .

nobody does , i imagine . "

" there 's gilbert coming up the lane , " said marilla .

" if he wants you to go for a row on the pond mind you put on your coat and rubbers .

there 's a heavy dew tonight . "

xviii

an adventure on the tory road

where is it ? "

she turned her head at davy 's question and answered dreamily ,

" ' over the mountains of the moon , down the valley of the shadow . ' "

" anne , i believe you 're just talking nonsense . "

" of course , i was , dear boy .

don't you know that it is only very foolish folk who talk sense all the time ? "

" well , i think you might give a sensible answer when i ask a sensible question , " said davy in an injured tone .

" oh , you are too little to understand , " said anne .

yet here she was doing it . ..y ..y so wide sometimes is the gulf between theory and practice .

" well , i 'm doing my best to grow , " said davy , " but it 's a thing you can't hurry much .

if marilla wasn't so stingy with her jam i believe i 'd grow a lot faster . "

" marilla is not stingy , davy , " said anne severely .

" it is very ungrateful of you to say such a thing . "

" i heard marilla say she was it , herself , the other day . "

" if you mean economical , it 's a very different thing from being stingy .

it is an excellent trait in a person if she is economical .

if marilla had been stingy she wouldn't have taken you and dora when your mother died .

would you have liked to live with mrs wiggins ? "

" you just bet i wouldn't ! "

davy was emphatic on that point .

" nor i don't want to go out to uncle richard neither .

i 'd far rather live here , even if marilla is that long-tailed word when it comes to jam , ' cause you're here , anne .

say , anne , won't you tell me a story ' fore i go to sleep ?

i don't want a fairy story .

fortunately for anne , marilla called out at this moment from her room .

" anne , diana 's signaling at a great rate .

you 'd better see what she wants . "

anne threw her white shawl over her head and hastened through the haunted wood and across mr bell 's pasture corner to orchard slope .

" i 've good news for you , anne , " said diana .

" mother and i have just got home from carmody , and i saw mary sentner from spencer vale in mr blair 's store .

" i 'll go right over to spencervale after it tomorrow , " said anne resolutely , " and you must come with me .

it would be even worse than the time i had to confess about jumping on the spare room bed . "

the next afternoon the girls fared forth on their platter hunting expedition .

it was ten miles to spencervale and the day was not especially pleasant for traveling .

" oh , i do wish it would rain soon , " sighed anne .

" everything is so parched up .

the poor fields just seem pitiful to me and the trees seem to be stretching out their hands pleading for rain .

as for my garden , it hurts me every time i go into it .

i suppose i shouldn't complain about a garden when the farmers ' crops are suffering so .

" why is it called the tory road ? " asked anne .

the tory government ran the road through when they were in power just to show they were doing something . "

diana 's father was a liberal , for which reason she and anne never discussed politics .

green gables folk had always been conservatives .

" the shades are all down , " said diana ruefully .

" i believe that nobody is home . "

this proved to be the case .

the girls looked at each other in perplexity .

" i don't know what to do , " said anne .

" if i were sure the platter was the right kind i would not mind waiting until they came home .

but if it isn't it may be too late to go to wesley keyson 's afterward . "

diana looked at a certain little square window over the basement .

do you think it would be any harm ? "

" no , i don't think so , " decided anne , after due reflection , " since our motive is not idle curiosity . "

" i 'm afraid it won't bear my weight , " she said as she gingerly stepped on the roof .

" lean on the window sill , " advised diana , and anne accordingly leaned .

so much she saw before the catastrophe came .

diana dashed into the duck house and , seizing her unfortunate friend by the waist , tried to draw her down .

" ow . ..y ..y don't , " shrieked poor anne .

" there are some long splinters sticking into me .

see if you can put something under my feet . ..y ..y then perhaps i can draw myself up . "

but she could not release herself .

" could i pull you out if i crawled up ? " suggested diana .

anne shook her head hopelessly .

" no . ..y ..y the splinters hurt too badly .

if you can find an axe you might chop me out , though .

oh dear , i do really begin to believe that i was born under an ill-omened star . "

diana searched faithfully but no axe was to be found .

" i 'll have to go for help , " she said , returning to the prisoner .

" no , indeed , you won't , " said anne vehemently .

" if you do the story of this will get out everywhere and i shall be ashamed to show my face .

no , we must just wait until the copp girls come home and bind them to secrecy .

they 'll know where the axe is and get me out .

i 'm not uncomfortable , as long as i keep perfectly still . ..y ..y not uncomfortable in body i mean .

i wonder what the copp girls value this house at .

" what if the copp girls don't come home until after night . ..y ..y or till tomorrow ? " suggested diana .

oh dear , this is a dreadful predicament .

listen . . . is that a wagon ?

no , diana , i believe it is thunder . "

" we must prepare for it , " said anne tranquilly .

a thunderstorm seemed a trifle in comparison with what had already happened .

" you 'd better drive the horse and buggy into that open shed .

fortunately my parasol is in the buggy .

here ..y ..y ..y take my hat with you .

diana untied the pony and drove into the shed , just as the first heavy drops of rain fell .

there was not a great deal of thunder , but for the best part of an hour the rain came merrily down .

finally the rain ceased , the sun came out , and diana ventured across the puddles of the yard .

" did you get very wet ? " she asked anxiously .

" oh , no , " returned anne cheerfully .

" my head and shoulders are quite dry and my skirt is only a little damp where the rain beat through the lathes .

don't pity me , diana , for i haven't minded it at all .

when i go home i mean to write it down .

diana the faithful had a pencil and discovered a sheet of wrapping paper in the box of the buggy .

nevertheless , the result was quite pretty , and diana was " enraptured " when anne read it to her .

" oh , anne , it 's sweet . ..y ..y just sweet .

do send it to the ' canadian woman . ' "

anne shook her head .

" oh , no , it wouldn't be suitable at all .

there is no plot in it , you see .

it 's just a string of fancies .

oh , there 's miss sarah copp now .

please , diana , go and explain . "

she hurriedly unlocked the back door , produced the axe , and with a few skillfull blows set anne free .

the latter , somewhat tired and stiff , ducked down into the interior of her prison and thankfully emerged into liberty once more .

" miss copp , " she said earnestly .

" i assure you i looked into your pantry window only to discover if you had a willow-ware platter .

i didn't see anything else i didn't look for anything else . "

" bless you , that 's all right , " said miss sarah amiably .

" you needn't worry there 's no harm done .

thank goodness , we copps keep our pantries presentable at all times and don't care who sees into them .

as for that old duckhouse , i 'm glad it 's smashed , for maybe now martha will agree to having it taken down .

she never would before for fear it might come in handy sometime and i 've had to whitewash it every spring .

but you might as well argue with a post as with martha .

she went to town today i drove her to the station .

and you want to buy my platter .

well , what will you give for it ? "

" well , i 'll see , " said miss sarah cautiously .

" that platter is mine fortunately , or i 'd never dare to sell it when martha wasn't here .

as it is , i daresay she 'll raise a fuss .

martha 's the boss of this establishment i can tell you .

i 'm getting awful tired of living under another woman 's thumb .

but come in , come in .

you must be real tired and hungry .

martha locked up all the cake and cheese and preserves afore she went .

she always does , because she says i 'm too extravagant with them if company comes . "

when the meal was over miss sarah said ,

" i don't know as i mind selling the platter .

but it 's worth twenty-five dollars .

it 's a very old platter . "

but anne was not minded to take any chances in regard to that precious platter .

she promptly agreed to give twenty-five and miss sarah looked as if she felt sorry she hadn't asked for thirty .

" well , i guess you may have it .

i want all the money i can scare up just now .

he wanted me twenty years ago .

i liked him real well but he was poor then and father packed him off .

i s'pose i shouldn't have let him go so meek but i was timid and frightened of father .

besides , i didn't know men were so skurse . "

" i 'll amuse your aunt josephine with the ' strange eventful history ' of this afternoon when i go to town tomorrow .

we 've had a rather trying time but it 's over now .

i 've got the platter , and that rain has laid the dust beautifully .

so ' all 's well that ends well . ' "

" we 're not home yet , " said diana rather pessimistically , " and there 's no telling what may happen before we are .

you 're such a girl to have adventures , anne . "

" having adventures comes natural to some people , " said anne serenely .

" you just have a gift for them or you haven't . "

xix

just a happy day

such a day came late in august .

in the afternoon anne walked down to the old irving place to see paul .

he sprang up radiantly at sight of her .

" oh , i 'm so glad you 've come , teacher , " he said eagerly , " because grandma 's away .

you 'll stay and have tea with me , won't you ?

it 's so lonesome to have tea all by oneself .

you know , teacher .

i 've had serious thoughts of asking young mary joe to sit down and eat her tea with me , but i expect grandma wouldn't approve .

she says the french have to be kept in their place .

and anyhow , it 's difficult to talk with young mary joe .

she just laughs and says , ' well , yous do beat all de kids i ever knowed . '

that isn't my idea of conversation . "

" of course i 'll stay to tea , " said anne gaily .

" i was dying to be asked .

my mouth has been watering for some more of your grandma 's delicious shortbread ever since i had tea here before . "

paul looked very sober .

but it depends on mary joe .

but maybe mary joe will cut some for you if i promise i won't eat any .

let us hope for the best . "

" you 're sure you won't mind if she doesn't ? " said paul anxiously .

" perfectly sure , dear heart . "

she 's not a naturally unreasonable person , but she has learned by experience that it doesn't do to disobey grandma 's orders .

grandma is an excellent woman but people must do as she tells them .

she was very much pleased with me this morning because i managed at last to eat all my plateful of porridge .

it was a great effort but i succeeded .

grandma says she thinks she 'll make a man of me yet .

but , teacher , i want to ask you a very important question .

you will answer it truthfully , won't you ? "

" i 'll try , " promised anne .

" do you think i 'm wrong in my upper story ? " asked paul , as if his very existence depended on her reply .

" goodness , no , paul , " exclaimed anne in amazement .

" certainly you 're not .

what put such an idea into your head ? "

" mary joe . ..y ..y but she didn't know i heard her .

i heard mary joe say , ' dat paul , he is de queeres ' leetle boy .

he talks dat queer .

i tink dere's someting wrong in his upper story . '

i couldn't sleep last night for ever so long , thinking of it , and wondering if mary joe was right .

i couldn't bear to ask grandma about it somehow , but i made up my mind i 'd ask you .

i 'm so glad you think i 'm all right in my upper story . "

" of course you are .

" well , that 's a weight off my mind , " said paul .

" i 'm perfectly happy now , teacher , thanks to you .

it wouldn't be nice to have something wrong in your upper story , would it , teacher ?

i suppose the reason mary joe imagines i have is because i tell her what i think about things sometimes . "

" it is a rather dangerous practice , " admitted anne , out of the depths of her own experience .

that is the time i ache to tell people things , and when nobody else is handy i just have to tell mary joe .

but after this i won't , if it makes her imagine i 'm wrong in my upper story .

i 'll just ache and bear it . "

" yes , i will .

but i hope davy won't be there when i go because he makes faces at me .

and davy makes such terrible ones .

sometimes i am frightened he will never get his face straightened out again .

he makes them at me in church when i ought to be thinking of sacred things .

" rather young , " agreed teacher .

" speaking of marrying , reminds me of another thing that has been troubling me of late , " continued paul .

i didn't exactly want to show it to mrs lynde .

mrs lynde is a good , kind woman , but she isn't the sort of person you want to show your mother 's picture to .

you know , teacher .

but of course i obeyed grandma .

mrs lynde said she was very pretty but kind of actressy looking , and must have been an awful lot younger than father .

then she said , ' some of these days your pa will be marrying again likely .

how will you like to have a new ma , master paul ? '

well , the idea almost took my breath away , teacher , but i wasn't going to let mrs lynde see that .

and i can trust him , teacher .

there 's mary joe coming to call us to tea .

i 'll go and consult with her about the shortbread . "

as a result of the " consultation , " mary joe cut the shortbread and added a dish of preserves to the bill of fare .

" that 's my little mother , " said paul with loving pride .

" i got grandma to hang it there where i 'd see it as soon as i opened my eyes in the morning .

father knew just what i would like for a birthday present , although he never asked me .

isn't it wonderful how much fathers do know ? "

" your mother was very lovely , paul , and you look a little like her .

but her eyes and hair are darker than yours . "

he has lots of it , but it is gray .

you see , father is nearly fifty .

that 's ripe old age , isn't it ?

but it 's only outside he 's old .

inside he 's just as young as anybody .

now , teacher , please sit here ; and i 'll sit at your feet .

may i lay my head against your knee ?

that 's the way my little mother and i used to sit .

oh , this is real splendid , i think . "

paul never needed any coaxing to tell his thoughts . ..y ..y at least , to congenial souls .

" i thought them out in the fir grove one night , " he said dreamily .

" of course i didn't believe them but i thought them .

you know , teacher .

and then i wanted to tell them to somebody and there was nobody but mary joe .

i think the evening star is a lighthouse on the land where the fairies dwell . '

and mary joe said , ' well , yous are de queer one .

dare ain't no such ting as fairies . '

i was very much provoked .

of course , i knew there are no fairies ; but that needn't prevent my thinking there is .

you know , teacher .

but i tried again quite patiently .

i said , ' well then , mary joe , do you know what i think ?

children can hear him if they know how to listen . '

then mary joe held up her hands all over flour and said , ' well , yous are de queer leetle boy .

yous make me feel scare . '

and she really did looked scared .

i went out then and whispered the rest of my thoughts to the garden .

there was a little birch tree in the garden and it died .

and the little tree was so lonely it died of a broken heart . "

" do you know what i think about the new moon , teacher ?

i think it is a little golden boat full of dreams . "

" and when it tips on a cloud some of them spill out and fall into your sleep . "

" exactly , teacher .

oh , you do know .

and the buttercups are made out of old sunshine ; and i think the sweet peas will be butterflies when they go to heaven .

now , teacher , do you see anything so very queer about those thoughts ? "

but keep on thinking them , paul . ..y ..y some day you are going to be a poet , i believe . "

when anne reached home she found a very different type of boyhood waiting to be put to bed .

davy was sulky ; and when anne had undressed him he bounced into bed and buried his face in the pillow .

" davy , you have forgotten to say your prayers , " said anne rebukingly .

" no , i didn't forget , " said davy defiantly , " but i ain't going to say my prayers any more .

i 'm going to give up trying to be good , ' cause no matter how good i am you 'd like paul irving better .

so i might as well be bad and have the fun of it . "

" i don't like paul irving better , " said anne seriously .

" i like you just as well , only in a different way . "

" but i want you to like me the same way , " pouted davy .

" you can't like different people the same way .

you don't like dora and me the same way , do you ? "

davy sat up and reflected .

" and i like paul because he is paul and davy because he is davy , " said anne gaily .

" well , i kind of wish i 'd said my prayers then , " said davy , convinced by this logic .

" but it 's too much bother getting out now to say them .

i 'll say them twice over in the morning , anne .

won't that do as well ? "

no , anne was positive it would not do as well .

so davy scrambled out and knelt down at her knee .

when he had finished his devotions he leaned back on his little , bare , brown heels and looked up at her .

" anne , i 'm gooder than i used to be . "

" yes , indeed you are , davy , " said anne , who never hesitated to give credit where credit was due .

" i know i 'm gooder , " said davy confidently , " and i 'll tell you how i know it .

today marilla give me two pieces of bread and jam , one for me and one for dora .

one was a good deal bigger than the other and marilla didn't say which was mine .

but i give the biggest piece to dora .

that was good of me , wasn't it ? "

" very good , and very manly , davy . "

but i didn't know she was going to do that when i give it to her , so i was good , anne . "

in the twilight anne sauntered down to the dryad 's bubble and saw gilbert blythe coming down through the dusky haunted wood .

she had a sudden realization that gilbert was a schoolboy no longer .

and how manly he looked the tall , frank-faced fellow , with the clear , straightforward eyes and the broad shoulders .

anne thought gilbert was a very handsome lad , even though he didn't look at all like her ideal man .

she and diana had long ago decided what kind of a man they admired and their tastes seemed exactly similar .

he must be very tall and distinguished looking , with melancholy , inscrutable eyes , and a melting , sympathetic voice .

there was nothing either melancholy or inscrutable in gilbert 's physiognomy , but of course that didn't matter in friendship !

gilbert stretched himself out on the ferns beside the bubble and looked approvingly at anne .

he had made up his mind , also , that his future must be worthy of its goddess .

even in quiet avonlea there were temptations to be met and faced .

white sands youth were a rather " fast " set , and gilbert was popular wherever he went .

" you look like a real dryad under that birch tree , " he said teasingly .

" he was talking to me about it today .

major spencer is the most progressive and public-spirited man in avonlea .

and mr william bell is going to set out a spruce hedge along his road front and up his lane .

our society is getting on splendidly , anne .

it is past the experimental stage and is an accepted fact .

the older folks are beginning to take an interest in it and the white sands people are talking of starting one too .

even elisha wright has come around since that day the americans from the hotel had the picnic at the shore .

they praised our roadsides so highly and said they were so much prettier than in any other part of the island .

but the aids would never have stirred in the matter if the society hadn't put it into their thoughts unofficially .

levi won't have it taken down just to vex us .

there 's a contrary streak in all the boulters and it 's strongly developed in him . "

" and trust to providence , as mrs lynde says , " smiled gilbert .

" certainly , no more committees .

they only aggravate him .

julia bell thinks you can do anything , if you only have a committee to attempt it .

next spring , anne , we must start an agitation for nice lawns and grounds .

we 'll sow good seed betimes this winter .

i 've a treatise here on lawns and lawnmaking and i 'm going to prepare a paper on the subject soon .

well , i suppose our vacation is almost over .

school opens monday .

has ruby gillis got the carmody school ? "

" yes ; priscilla wrote that she had taken her own home school , so the carmody trustees gave it to ruby .

i 'm sorry priscilla is not coming back , but since she can't i 'm glad ruby has got the school .

marilla , just home from mrs lynde 's , was sitting on the back porch step when anne returned to the house .

" rachel and i have decided to have our cruise to town tomorrow , " she said .

" mr lynde is feeling better this week and rachel wants to go before he has another sick spell . "

" i intend to get up extra early tomorrow morning , for i 've ever so much to do , " said anne virtuously .

" for one thing , i 'm going to shift the feathers from my old bedtick to the new one .

i ought to have done it long ago but i 've just kept putting it off . ..y ..y it 's such a detestable task .

that would be inconsistent .

" you won't get half done , " said marilla pessimistically .

" i never yet planned to do a lot of things but something happened to prevent me . "

xx

the way it often happens

green gables lay in a pool of sunshine , flecked with the dancing shadows of poplar and willow .

beyond the land was mr harrison 's wheatfield , a great , windrippled expanse of pale gold .

the world was so beautiful that anne spent ten blissful minutes hanging idly over the garden gate drinking the loveliness in .

after breakfast marilla made ready for her journey .

dora was to go with her , having been long promised this treat .

" now , davy , you try to be a good boy and don't bother anne , " she straitly charged him .

" if you are good i 'll bring you a striped candy cane from town . "

for alas , marilla had stooped to the evil habit of bribing people to be good !

" i won't be bad on purpose , but s'posen i 'm bad zacksidentally ? "

davy wanted to know .

" you 'll have to guard against accidents , " admonished marilla .

" anne , if mr shearer comes today get a nice roast and some steak .

if he doesn't you 'll have to kill a fowl for dinner tomorrow . "

anne nodded .

" i 'm not going to bother cooking any dinner for just davy and myself today , " she said .

" that cold ham bone will do for noon lunch and i 'll have some steak fried for you when you come home at night . "

" i 'm going to help mr harrison haul dulse this morning , " announced davy .

" he asked me to , and i guess he 'll ask me to dinner too .

mr harrison is an awful kind man .

he 's a real sociable man .

i hope i 'll be like him when i grow up .

i mean behave like him . . .

i don't want to look like him .

but i guess there 's no danger , for mrs lynde says i 'm a very handsome child .

do you s'pose it 'll last , anne ?

i want to know ? "

" i daresay it will , " said anne gravely .

" you are a handsome boy , davy , " . . .

" seems to me you can't get out of being good in this world for some reason or ' nother .

you just have to behave . "

" yes , i want to be good but not too good , " said davy cautiously .

" you don't have to be very good to be a sunday school superintendent .

mr bell 's that , and he 's a real bad man . "

" indeed he 's not , " said marila indignantly .

" he is . ..y ..y he says he is himself , " asseverated davy .

" he said it when he prayed in sunday school last sunday .

he said he was a vile worm and a miserable sinner and guilty of the blackest ' niquity .

what did he do that was so bad , marilla ?

did he kill anybody ?

or steal the collection cents ?

i want to know . "

anne , left alone in her glory , worked with a will .

the floor was swept , the beds made , the hens fed , the muslin dress washed and hung out on the line .

then anne prepared for the transfer of feathers .

a cracked mirror hung by the chamber window and in an unlucky moment anne looked into it .

" oh , i forgot to rub that lotion on last night , " she thought .

" i 'd better run down to the pantry and do it now . "

anne had already suffered many things trying to remove those freckles .

on one occasion the entire skin had peeled off her nose but the freckles remained .

this important duty done , she returned to her work .

at this auspicious moment a knock sounded at the kitchen door .

" that must be mr shearer , " thought anne .

" i 'm in a dreadful mess but i 'll have to run down as i am , for he 's always in a hurry . "

down flew anne to the kitchen door .

all mrs morgan 's heroines were noted for " rising to the occasion . "

no matter what her outraged feelings were she did not show them .

she greeted priscilla and was introduced to her companions as calmly and composedly as if she had been arrayed in purple and fine linen .

aunt charlotte is going away monday and she had promised to spend today with a friend in town .

but last night her friend telephoned to her not to come because they were quarantined for scarlet fever .

so i suggested we come here instead , for i knew you were longing to see her .

we called at the white sands hotel and brought mrs pendexter with us .

she is a friend of aunt 's and lives in new york and her husband is a millionaire .

we can't stay very long , for mrs pendexter has to be back at the hotel by five o'clock . "

several times while they were putting away the horse anne caught priscilla looking at her in a furtive , puzzled way .

" she needn't stare at me so , " anne thought a little resentfully .

" if she doesn't know what it is to change a feather bed she might imagine it . "

when priscilla had gone to the parlor , and before anne could escape upstairs , diana walked into the kitchen .

anne caught her astonished friend by the arm .

" diana barry , who do you suppose is in that parlor at this very moment ?

by this time anne had become aware that diana was staring at her in precisely the same bewildered fashion as priscilla had done .

it was really too much .

" oh , diana , don't look at me so , " she implored .

" it ..y ..y ..y it ..y ..y ..y isn't the feathers , " hesitated diana .

" it's ..y ..y ..y it's ..y ..y ..y your nose , anne . "

" my nose ?

oh , diana , surely nothing has gone wrong with it ! "

anne rushed to the little looking glass over the sink .

one glance revealed the fatal truth .

her nose was a brilliant scarlet !

anne sat down on the sofa , her dauntless spirit subdued at last .

" what is the matter with it ? " asked diana , curiosity overcoming delicacy .

" what shall i do ? "

" wash it off , " said diana practically .

" perhaps it won't wash off .

first i dye my hair ; then i dye my nose .

marilla cut my hair off when i dyed it but that remedy would hardly be practicable in this case .

well , this is another punishment for vanity and i suppose i deserve it . ..y ..y though there 's not much comfort in that .

fortunately the dye washed off easily and anne , somewhat consoled , betook herself to the east gable while diana ran home .

presently anne came down again , clothed and in her right mind .

" mother sent you this , " she said , lifting the cover and displaying a nicely carved and jointed chicken to anne 's greatful eyes .

anne 's hungry guests , however , did not seem to think anything was lacking and they ate the simple viands with apparent enjoyment .

but after the first few moments anne thought no more of what was or was not on her bill of fare .

she had traveled extensively and was an excellent storyteller .

nor did she monopolize the conversation .

she could draw others out as skillfully and fully as she could talk herself , and anne and diana found themselves chattering freely to her .

" i don't know which i enjoyed more . ..y ..y listening to mrs morgan or gazing at mrs pendexter .

i believe we had a nicer time than if we 'd known they were coming and been cumbered with much serving .

you must stay to tea with me , diana , and we 'll talk it all over . "

" i daresay even the english earl himself wouldn't have turned up his aristocratic nose at marilla 's plum preserves , " said anne proudly .

anne did not mention the misfortune which had befallen her nose when she related the day 's history to marilla that evening .

but she took the bottle of freckle lotion and emptied it out of the window .

" i shall never try any beautifying messes again , " she said , darkly resolute .

xxi

sweet miss lavendar

school opened and anne returned to her work , with fewer theories but considerably more experience .

she had several new pupils , six- and seven-year-olds just venturing , round-eyed , into a world of wonder .

among them were davy and dora .

davy sat with milty boulter , who had been going to school for a year and was therefore quite a man of the world .

" i think school is great fun , " davy told marilla when he got home that night .

it 's splendid to have so many boys to play with .

i sit with milty boulter and he 's fine .

he 's longer than me but i 'm wider .

it 's nicer to sit in the back seats but you can't sit there till your legs grow long enough to touch the floor .

it seems it's dreadful to have your feelings hurt .

it 's better to knock a boy down than hurt his feelings if you must do something .

milty doesn't like barbara ' cause she calls him a sweet little boy and once she patted him on his head . "

" i'm . . .

i 'm frightened , " she sobbed .

" i . . .

i don't want to go upstairs alone in the dark . "

" what notion have you got into your head now ? " demanded marilla .

" i 'm sure you 've gone to bed alone all summer and never been frightened before . "

dora still continued to cry , so anne picked her up , cuddled her sympathetically , and whispered ,

" tell anne all about it , sweetheart .

what are you frightened of ? "

" of ..y ..y ..y of mirabel cotton 's uncle , " sobbed dora .

" mirabel cotton told me all about her family today in school .

nearly everybody in her family has died . ..y ..y all her grandfathers and grandmothers and ever so many uncles and aunts .

they have a habit of dying , mirabel says .

and mirabel says one of her uncles was seen walking around the house after he was buried .

her mother saw him .

i don't mind the rest so much but i can't help thinking about that uncle . "

anne went upstairs with dora and sat by her until she fell asleep .

mirabel thought this very harsh .

the cottons had not much to boast of .

how was she to keep up her prestige among her schoolmates if she were forbidden to make capital out of the family ghost ?

september slipped by into a gold and crimson graciousness of october .

one friday evening diana came over .

" why can't we walk ? " suggested anne .

" if we go straight back through the woods we 'll strike the west grafton road not far from the kimball place .

i was through that way last winter and i know the road .

it 's no more than four miles and we won't have to walk home , for oliver kimball will be sure to drive us .

" it doesn't seem right to hurry through it , does it ?

it seems irreverent , like running in a church . "

" we must hurry though , " said diana , glancing at her watch .

" we 've left ourselves little enough time as it is . "

" well , i 'll walk fast but don't ask me to talk , " said anne , quickening her pace .

" i just want to drink the day 's loveliness in . . .

she should have taken the right , but ever afterward she counted it the most fortunate mistake of her life .

they came out finally to a lonely , grassy road , with nothing in sight along it but ranks of spruce saplings .

" why , where are we ? " exclaimed diana in bewilderment .

" this isn't the west grafton road . "

" no , it 's the base line road in middle grafton , " said anne , rather shamefacedly .

" i must have taken the wrong turning at the fork .

i don't know where we are exactly , but we must be all of three miles from kimballs ' still . "

" we 'll arrive after they have had their tea , and they 'll have all the bother of getting ours over again . "

" we 'd better turn back and go home , " suggested anne humbly .

but diana , after consideration , vetoed this .

" no , we may as well go and spend the evening , since we have come this far . "

a few yards further on the girls came to a place where the road forked again .

" which of these do we take ? " asked diana dubiously .

anne shook her head .

" i don't know and we can't afford to make any more mistakes .

here is a gate and a lane leading right into the wood .

there must be a house at the other side .

let us go down and inquire . "

" what a romantic old lane this it , " said diana , as they walked along its twists and turns .

it ran under patriarchal old firs whose branches met above , creating a perpetual gloom in which nothing except moss could grow .

on either hand were brown wood floors , crossed here and there by fallen lances of sunlight .

all was very still and remote , as if the world and the cares of the world were far away .

" i feel as if we were walking through an enchanted forest , " said anne in a hushed tone .

" do you suppose we 'll ever find our way back to the real world again , diana ?

we shall presently come to a palace with a spellbound princess in it , i think . "

anne stopped short in rapture and diana exclaimed , " oh , i know where we are now .

that is the little stone house where miss lavendar lewis lives . . .

echo lodge , she calls it , i think .

i 've often heard of it but i 've never seen it before .

isn't it a romantic spot ? "

" it 's the sweetest , prettiest place i ever saw or imagined , " said anne delightedly .

" it looks like a bit out of a story book or a dream . "

before the house was an oblong garden into which the lane gate where the girls were standing opened .

no other house or clearing was in sight . ..y ..y nothing but hills and valleys covered with feathery young firs .

" i wonder what sort of a person miss lewis is , " speculated diana as they opened the gate into the garden .

" they say she is very peculiar . "

" she 'll be interesting then , " said anne decidedly .

" peculiar people are always that at least , whatever else they are or are not .

didn't i tell you we would come to an enchanted palace ?

i knew the elves hadn't woven magic over that lane for nothing . "

" but miss lavendar lewis is hardly a spellbound princess , " laughed diana .

" she 's an old maid . ..y ..y she 's forty-five and quite gray , i 've heard . "

" oh , that 's only part of the spell , " asserted anne confidently .

perhaps some fatal mischance has befallen him . ..y ..y though that's against the law of all fairy tales . "

" i 'm afraid he came long ago and went away again , " said diana .

" they say she used to be engaged to stephan irving . . .

paul 's father . ..y ..y when they were young .

but they quarreled and parted . "

" hush , " warned anne .

" the door is open . "

the girls paused in the porch under the tendrils of ivy and knocked at the open door .

" is miss lewis at home ? " asked diana .

" yes , ma'am .

come in , ma'am .

i 'll tell miss lavendar you're here , ma'am .

she 's upstairs , ma'am . "

with this the small handmaiden whisked out of sight and the girls , left alone , looked about them with delighted eyes .

the interior of this wonderful little house was quite as interesting as its exterior .

the room had a low ceiling and two square , small-paned windows , curtained with muslin frills .

all the furnishings were old-fashioned , but so well and daintily kept that the effect was delicious .

" miss lavendar must be expecting company to tea , " she whispered .

" there are six places set .

but what a funny little girl she has .

she looked like a messenger from pixy land .

i suppose she could have told us the road , but i was curious to see miss lavendar .

s ..y ..y ..y s ..y ..y ..y sh , she 's coming . "

and with that miss lavendar lewis was standing in the doorway .

the girls were so surprised that they forgot good manners and simply stared .

nothing more unlike miss lavendar could possibly be imagined .

she was a little lady with snow-white hair beautifully wavy and thick , and carefully arranged in becoming puffs and coils .

" charlotta the fourth says that you wished to see me , " she said , in a voice that matched her appearance .

" we wanted to ask the right road to west grafton , " said diana .

do we take the right or left turning at your gate ? "

" the left , " said miss lavendar , with a hesitating glance at her tea table .

then she exclaimed , as if in a sudden little burst of resolution ,

" but oh , won't you stay and have tea with me ?

please , do .

mr kimball 's will have tea over before you get there .

and charlotta the fourth and i will be so glad to have you . "

diana looked mute inquiry at anne .

but you are expecting other guests , aren't you ? "

miss lavendar looked at her tea table again , and blushed .

" i know you 'll think me dreadfully foolish , " she said .

" i am foolish . ..y ..y and i 'm ashamed of it when i 'm found out , but never unless i am found out .

i 'm not expecting anybody . . .

i was just pretending i was .

you see , i was so lonely .

charlotta the fourth was lonely too .

so i just pretended i was going to have a tea party .

diana secretly thought miss lavendar quite as peculiar as report had pictured her .

the idea of a woman of forty-five playing at having a tea party , just as if she were a little girl !

but anne of the shining eyes exclaimed joyfuly , " oh , do you imagine things too ? "

that " too " revealed a kindred spirit to miss lavendar .

" yes , i do , " she confessed , boldly .

" of course it 's silly in anybody as old as i am .

a person must have some compensations .

i don't believe i could live at times if i didn't pretend things .

i 'm not often caught at it though , and charlotta the fourth never tells .

but i 'm glad to be caught today , for you have really come and i have tea all ready for you .

will you go up to the spare room and take off your hats ?

it 's the white door at the head of the stairs .

i must run out to the kitchen and see that charlotta the fourth isn't letting the tea boil .

charlotta the fourth is a very good girl but she will let the tea boil . "

" this is quite an adventure , isn't it ? " said diana .

" and isn't miss lavendar sweet , if she is a little odd ?

she doesn't look a bit like an old maid . "

" she looks just as music sounds , i think , " answered anne .

" now , you must tell me your names , " said miss lavendar .

" i 'm so glad you are young girls .

i love young girls .

it 's so easy to pretend i 'm a girl myself when i 'm with them .

i do hate " . ..y ..y with a little grimace . ..y ..y " to believe i 'm old .

now , who are you . ..y ..y just for convenience ' sake ?

diana barry ?

and anne shirley ?

may i pretend that i 've known you for a hundred years and call you anne and diana right away ? "

" you , may " the girls said both together .

" then just let's sit comfily down and eat everything , " said miss lavendar happily .

" charlotta , you sit at the foot and help with the chicken .

it is so fortunate that i made the sponge cake and doughnuts .

of course , it was foolish to do it for imaginary guests . . .

i know charlotta the fourth thought so , didn't you , charlotta ?

but you see how well it has turned out .

of course they wouldn't have been wasted , for charlotta the fourth and i could have eaten them through time .

but sponge cake is not a thing that improves with time . "

" i do think you have the loveliest place here , " said diana , looking round her admiringly .

" why do you call it echo lodge ? " asked anne .

charlotta the fourth skipped off and returned with the horn .

" blow it , charlotta , " commanded miss lavendar .

charlotta accordingly blew , a rather raucous , strident blast .

anne and diana exclaimed in delight .

" now laugh , charlotta . ..y ..y laugh loudly . "

back came the echoes , as if a host of pixy people were mimicking her laughter in the purple woodlands and along the fir-fringed points .

" people always admire my echoes very much , " said miss lavendar , as if the echoes were her personal property .

" i love them myself .

they are very good company . ..y ..y with a little pretending .

on calm evenings charlotta the fourth and i often sit out here and amuse ourselves with them .

charlotta , take back the horn and hang it carefully in its place . "

" why do you call her charlotta the fourth ? " asked diana , who was bursting with curiosity on this point .

" just to keep her from getting mixed up with other charlottas in my thoughts , " said miss lavendar seriously .

" they all look so much alike there 's no telling them apart .

her name isn't really charlotta at all .

it is . ..y ..y let me see . ..y ..y what is it ?

i think it 's leonora . ..y ..y yes , it is leonora .

you see , it is this way .

so i got little charlotta bowman to come and stay with me for board and clothes .

her name really was charlotta . ..y ..y she was charlotta the first .

she was just thirteen .

she stayed with me till she was sixteen and then she went away to boston , because she could do better there .

her sister came to stay with me then .

her name was julietta . . .

so i just gave up trying to remember her right name .

she was charlotta the second , and when she went away evelina came and she was charlotta the third .

charlotta the fourth is the last of the bowman girls , and the best .

i don't care what people think about me if they don't let me see it . "

" well , " said diana looking regretfully at the setting sun .

" i suppose we must go if we want to get to mr kimball 's before dark .

we 've had a lovely time , miss lewis . "

" won't you come again to see me ? " pleaded miss lavendar .

tall anne put her arm about the little lady .

" indeed we shall , " she promised .

" now that we have discovered you we 'll wear out our welcome coming to see you .

" paul irving ? "

there was a subtle change in miss lavendar 's voice .

" who is he ?

i didn't think there was anybody of that name in avonlea . "

anne felt vexed at her own heedlessness .

she had forgotten about miss lavendar 's old romance when paul 's name slipped out .

" he is a little pupil of mine , " she explained slowly .

" he came from boston last year to live with his grandmother , mrs irving of the shore road . "

" is he stephen irving 's son ? "

miss lavendar asked , bending over her namesake border so that her face was hidden .

" yes . "

" it 's very sweet , don't you think ?

mother always loved it .

she planted these borders long ago .

father named me lavendar because he was so fond of it .

the very first time he saw mother was when he visited her home in east grafton with her brother .

he always loved the scent of lavendar after that . ..y ..y and that was why he gave me the name .

don't forget to come back soon , girls dear .

we 'll be looking for you , charlotta the fourth and i . "

she opened the gate under the firs for them to pass through .

" she does look lonely , " said diana softly .

" we must come often to see her . "

" i think her parents gave her the only right and fitting name that could possibly be given her , " said anne .

it 's so suggestive of sweetness and old-fashioned graces and ' silk attire . '

now , my name just smacks of bread and butter , patchwork and chores . "

" oh , i don't think so , " said diana .

" anne seems to me real stately and like a queen .

but i 'd like kerrenhappuch if it happened to be your name .

i think people make their names nice or ugly just by what they are themselves .

i can't bear josie or gertie for names now but before i knew the pye girls i thought them real pretty . "

" that 's a lovely idea , diana , " said anne enthusiastically .

thank you , diana . "

xxii

odds and ends

" so you had tea at the stone house with lavendar lewis ? " said marilla at the breakfast table next morning .

" what is she like now ?

it 's over fifteen years since i saw her last . ..y ..y it was one sunday in grafton church .

i suppose she has changed a great deal .

did you ever see paul irving doing that when he was here to meals ? "

" but paul 's arms are longer'n mine , " brumbled davy .

" they 've had eleven years to grow and mine 've only had seven .

' sides , i did ask , but you and anne was so busy talking you didn't pay any ' tention .

' sides , paul 's never been here to any meal escept tea , and it 's easier to be p'lite at tea than at breakfast .

you ain't half as hungry .

it 's an awful long while between supper and breakfast .

now , anne , that spoonful ain't any bigger than it was last year and i'm ever so much bigger . "

" she was reckoned a great beauty when she was a girl , " said marilla .

" i never knew her very well but i liked her as far as i did know her .

some folks thought her peculiar even then .

most conversations between anne and marilla in the presence of the twins , were punctuated by these rebukes davy-ward .

anne looked at him with such horrified eyes that the little sinner turned red and said , half shamefacedly , half defiantly ,

" there ain't any wasted that way . "

" people who are different from other people are always called peculiar , " said anne .

" and miss lavendar is certainly different , though it 's hard to say just where the difference comes in .

perhaps it is because she is one of those people who never grow old . "

" one might as well grow old when all your generation do , " said marilla , rather reckless of her pronouns .

" if you don't , you don't fit in anywhere .

far as i can learn lavendar lewis has just dropped out of everything .

she 's lived in that out of the way place until everybody has forgotten her .

that stone house is one of the oldest on the island .

old mr lewis built it eighty years ago when he came out from england .

davy , stop joggling dora 's elbow .

oh , i saw you !

you needn't try to look innocent .

what does make you behave so this morning ? "

" maybe i got out of the wrong side of the bed , " suggested davy .

" milty boulter says if you do that things are bound to go wrong with you all day .

his grandmother told him .

but which is the right side ?

and what are you to do when your bed 's against the wall ?

i want to know . "

" i 've always wondered what went wrong between stephen irving and lavendar lewis , " continued marilla , ignoring davy .

" they were certainly engaged twenty-five years ago and then all at once it was broken off .

" perhaps it was nothing very dreadful after all .

" marilla , please don't say anything about my being at miss lavendar 's to mrs lynde .

marilla 's pronouns slandered eliza , who was very fond of her husband .

" rachel says if he 'd only brace up and exert his will power he 'd get better .

but what is the use of asking a jellyfish to sit up straight ? " continued marilla .

" thomas lynde never had any will power to exert .

his mother ruled him till he married and then rachel carried it on .

it 's a wonder he dared to get sick without asking her permission .

but there , i shouldn't talk so .

rachel has been a good wife to him .

he 'd never have amounted to anything without her , that 's certain .

he was born to be ruled ; and it 's well he fell into the hands of a clever , capable manager like rachel .

he didn't mind her way .

it saved him the bother of ever making up his own mind about anything .

davy , do stop squirming like an eel . "

" i 've nothing else to do , " protested davy .

" i can't eat any more , and it 's no fun watching you and anne eat . "

" well , you and dora go out and give the hens their wheat , " said marilla .

" and don't you try to pull any more feathers out of the white rooster 's tail either . "

" i wanted some feathers for an injun headdress , " said davy sulkily .

" milty boulter has a dandy one , made out of the feathers his mother give him when she killed their old white gobbler .

you might let me have some .

that rooster 's got ever so many more'n he wants . "

" you do spoil that boy dreadfully , " said marilla , when davy , with a radiant face , had followed prim dora out .

" all the boys of his class have indian headdresses , and davy wants one too , " said anne .

" i know how it feels . . .

i 'll never forget how i used to long for puffed sleeves when all the other girls had them .

and davy isn't being spoiled .

he is improving every day .

think what a difference there is in him since he came here a year ago . "

" he certainly doesn't get into as much mischief since he began to go to school , " acknowledged marilla .

" i suppose he works off the tendency with the other boys .

but it 's a wonder to me we haven't heard from richard keith before this .

never a word since last may . "

" i 'll be afraid to hear from him , " sighed anne , beginning to clear away the dishes .

" if a letter should come i 'd dread opening it , for fear it would tell us to send the twins to him . "

a month later a letter did come .

but it was not from richard keith .

a friend of his wrote to say that richard keith had died of consumption a fortnight previously .

in the meantime the interest was to be used for their maintenance .

" it seems dreadful to be glad of anything in connection with a death , " said anne soberly .

" i 'm sorry for poor mr keith ; but i am glad that we can keep the twins . "

" it 's a very good thing about the money , " said marilla practically .

" i wanted to keep them but i really didn't see how i could afford to do it , especially when they grew older .

you do far too much for them as it is .

dora didn't need that new hat you bought her any more than a cat needs two tails .

but now the way is made clear and they are provided for . "

davy and dora were delighted when they heard that they were to live at green gables , " for good . "

the death of an uncle whom they had never seen could not weigh a moment in the balance against that .

but dora had one misgiving .

" was uncle richard buried ? " she whispered to anne .

" yes , dear , of course . "

" he ..y ..y ..y he ..y ..y ..y isn't like mirabel cotton 's uncle , is he ? " in a still more agitated whisper .

" he won't walk about houses after being buried , will he , anne ? "

xxiii

miss lavendar 's romance

" i think i 'll take a walk through to echo lodge this evening , " said anne , one friday afternoon in december .

" it looks like snow , " said marilla dubiously .

" i 'll be there before the snow comes and i mean to stay all night .

diana can't go because she has company , and i 'm sure miss lavendar will be looking for me tonight .

it 's a whole fortnight since i was there . "

anne had paid many a visit to echo lodge since that october day .

sometimes she and diana drove around by the road ; sometimes they walked through the woods .

when diana could not go anne went alone .

at the first bend she came upon miss lavendar , standing under a big , broad-branching fir .

she wore a gown of warm , rich red , and her head and shoulders were wrapped in a silvery gray silk shawl .

" you look like the queen of the fir wood fairies , " called anne merrily .

" i thought you would come tonight , anne , " said miss lavendar , running forward .

" and i 'm doubly glad , for charlotta the fourth is away .

her mother is sick and she had to go home for the night .

i should have been very lonely if you hadn't come . ..y ..y even the dreams and the echoes wouldn't have been enough company .

" how pretty and how young !

it 's so delightful to be seventeen , isn't it ?

i do envy you , " concluded miss lavendar candidly .

" but you are only seventeen at heart , " smiled anne .

" no , i 'm old . ..y ..y or rather middle-aged , which is far worse , " sighed miss lavendar .

" sometimes i can pretend i 'm not , but at other times i realize it .

and i can't reconcile myself to it as most women seem to .

i 'm just as rebellious as i was when i discovered my first gray hair .

now , anne , don't look as if you were trying to understand .

seventeen can't understand .

i 'm going to pretend right away that i am seventeen too , and i can do it , now that you're here .

you always bring youth in your hand like a gift .

we 're going to have a jolly evening .

tea first . ..y ..y what do you want for tea ?

we 'll have whatever you like .

do think of something nice and indigestible . "

there were sounds of riot and mirth in the little stone house that night .

" i 'm so glad you 're here , anne , " said miss lavendar , nibbling at her candy .

" if you weren't i should be blue . ..y ..y very blue . ..y ..y almost navy blue .

dreams and make-believes are all very well in the daytime and the sunshine , but when dark and storm come they fail to satisfy .

one wants real things then .

but you don't know this . ..y ..y seventeen never knows it .

at seventeen dreams do satisfy because you think the realities are waiting for you further on .

" but you aren't an old maid , " said anne , smiling into miss lavendar 's wistful woodbrown eyes .

" old maids are born . ..y ..y they don't become . "

anne , did anyone ever tell you anything about stephen irving and me ? "

" yes , " said anne candidly , " i 've heard that you and he were engaged once . "

" so we were . ..y ..y twenty-five years ago . ..y ..y a lifetime ago .

and we were to have been married the next spring .

i had my wedding dress made , although nobody but mother and stephen ever knew that .

we 'd been engaged in a way almost all our lives , you might say .

how poor mother laughed ! "

" and what went wrong ? " asked anne breathlessly .

" we had just a stupid , silly , commonplace quarrel .

so commonplace that , if you 'll believe me , i don't even remember just how it began .

i hardly know who was the more to blame for it .

stephen did really begin it , but i suppose i provoked him by some foolishness of mine .

he had a rival or two , you see .

i was vain and coquettish and liked to tease him a little .

he was a very high-strung , sensitive fellow .

well , we parted in a temper on both sides .

but i thought it would all come right ; and it would have if stephen hadn't come back too soon .

anne , my dear , i 'm sorry to say " . . .

oh , you needn't smile , ..y ..y ..y it 's only too true .

i do sulk ; and stephen came back before i had finished sulking .

i wouldn't listen to him and i wouldn't forgive him ; and so he went away for good .

he was too proud to come again .

and then i sulked because he didn't come .

i might have sent for him perhaps , but i couldn't humble myself to do that .

i was just as proud as he was . ..y ..y pride and sulkiness make a very bad combination , anne .

but i could never care for anybody else and i didn't want to .

i knew i would rather be an old maid for a thousand years than marry anybody who wasn't stephen irving .

well , it all seems like a dream now , of course .

how sympathetic you look , anne . ..y ..y as sympathetic as only seventeen can look .

but don't overdo it .

i 'm really a very happy , contented little person in spite of my broken heart .

my heart did break , if ever a heart did , when i realized that stephen irving was not coming back .

but , anne , a broken heart in real life isn't half as dreadful as it is in books .

it 's a good deal like a bad tooth . ..y ..y though you won't think that a very romantic simile .

and now you 're looking disappointed .

that 's the worst . ..y ..y or the best ..y ..y ..y of real life , anne .

it won't let you be miserable .

it keeps on trying to make you comfortable . ..y ..y and succeeding ....y even when you 're determined to be unhappy and romantic .

isn't this candy scrumptious ?

i 've eaten far more than is good for me already but i 'm going to keep recklessly on . "

after a little silence miss lavendar said abruptly ,

" it gave me a shock to hear about stephen 's son that first day you were here , anne .

i 've never been able to mention him to you since , but i 've wanted to know all about him .

what sort of a boy is he ? "

" i 'd like to see him , " said miss lavendar softly , as if talking to herself .

" i wonder if he looks anything like the little dream-boy who lives here with me . . .

my little dream-boy . "

" if you would like to see paul i 'll bring him through with me sometime , " said anne .

" i would like it . . . but not too soon .

i want to get used to the thought .

in a month 's time you may bring him . "

accordingly , a month later anne and paul walked through the woods to the stone house , and met miss lavendar in the lane .

she had not been expecting them just then and she turned very pale .

" he ..y ..y ..y he is very like his father . "

" everybody says i 'm a chip off the old block , " remarked paul , quite at his ease .

anne , who had been watching the little scene , drew a relieved breath .

she saw that miss lavendar and paul had " taken " to each other , and that there would be no constraint or stiffness .

" come again , laddie , " said miss lavendar , shaking hands with him at parting .

" you may kiss me if you like , " said paul gravely .

miss lavendar stooped and kissed him .

" how did you know i wanted to ? " she whispered .

" because you looked at me just as my little mother used to do when she wanted to kiss me .

as a rule , i don't like to be kissed .

boys don't .

you know , miss lewis .

but i think i rather like to have you kiss me .

and of course i 'll come to see you again .

i think i 'd like to have you for a particular friend of mine , if you don't object . "

" i . . .

i don't think i shall object , " said miss lavendar .

she turned and went in very quickly ; but a moment later she was waving a gay and smiling good-bye to them from the window .

" i like miss lavendar , " announced paul , as they walked through the beech woods .

" i like the way she looked at me , and i like her stone house , and i like charlotta the fourth .

i wish grandma irving had a charlotta the fourth instead of a mary joe .

i feel sure charlotta the fourth wouldn't think i was wrong in my upper story when i told her what i think about things .

wasn't that a splendid tea we had , teacher ?

grandma says a boy shouldn't be thinking about what he gets to eat , but he can't help it sometimes when he is real hungry .

you know , teacher .

i don't think miss lavendar would make a boy eat porridge for breakfast if he didn't like it .

she 'd get things for him he did like .

but of course " . . .

paul was nothing if not fair-minded . ..y ..y " that mightn't be very good for him .

it 's very nice for a change though , teacher .

you know . "

xxiv

a prophet in his own country

gossip , as usual , was wrong .

gilbert blythe , aided and abetted by anne , had written the notes , putting in the one about himself as a blind .

only two of the notes have any bearing on this history :

" rumor has it that there will be a wedding in our village ere the daisies are in bloom .

a new and highly respected citizen will lead to the hymeneal altar one of our most popular ladies .

the area of the storm will extend over the greater part of the province .

people traveling that evening will do well to take umbrellas and mackintoshes with them . "

poor old uncle abe felt rather indignant over the notes .

he suspected that " observer " was making fun of him .

he angrily denied having assigned any particular date for his storm but nobody believed him .

life in avonlea continued on the smooth and even tenor of its way .

the " planting " was put in ; the improvers celebrated an arbor day .

each improver set out , or caused to be set out , five ornamental trees .

as the society now numbered forty members , this meant a total of two hundred young trees .

anne liked to sleep with her window open and let the cherry fragrance blow over her face all night .

she thought it very poetical .

marilla thought she was risking her life .

" i think it would be ever so much better than having it in november when everything is dead or asleep .

i feel exactly as eve must have felt in the garden of eden before the trouble began .

is that grass in the hollow green or golden ?

marilla looked scandalized and glanced apprehensively around to make sure the twins were not within earshot .

they came around the corner of the house just then .

" ain't it an awful nice-smelling evening ? " asked davy , sniffing delightedly as he swung a hoe in his grimy hands .

he had been working in his garden .

both had eagerly gone to work in a characteristic fashion .

dora planted , weeded , and watered carefully , systematically , and dispassionately .

as a result , her plot was already green with prim , orderly little rows of vegetables and annuals .

" how is your garden coming on , davy-boy ? " asked anne .

" kind of slow , " said davy with a sigh .

" i don't know why the things don't grow better .

milty boulter says i must have planted them in the dark of the moon and that 's the whole trouble .

is that true , anne ?

i want to know . "

" i only pulled six of them up , " protested davy .

" i wanted to see if there was grubs at the roots .

milty boulter said if it wasn't the moon 's fault it must be grubs .

but i only found one grub .

he was a great big juicy curly grub .

i put him on a stone and got another stone and smashed him flat .

he made a jolly squish i tell you .

i was sorry there wasn't more of them .

dora 's garden was planted same time 's mine and her things are growing all right .

it can't be the moon , " davy concluded in a reflective tone .

" marilla , look at that apple tree , " said anne .

" why , the thing is human .

it is reaching out long arms to pick its own pink skirts daintily up and provoke us to admiration . "

" those yellow duchess trees always bear well , " said marilla complacently .

" that tree 'll be loaded this year .

i 'm real glad . ..y ..y they 're great for pies . "

but neither marilla nor anne nor anybody else was fated to make pies out of yellow duchess apples that year .

a hot breeze blew all the forenoon ; but after noon hour it died away into a heavy stillness .

at half past three anne heard a low rumble of thunder .

she promptly dismissed school at once , so that the children might get home before the storm came .

annetta bell caught her hand nervously .

" oh , teacher , look at that awful cloud ! "

anne looked and gave an exclamation of dismay .

in the northwest a mass of cloud , such as she had never in all her life beheld before , was rapidly rolling up .

it was dead black , save where its curled and fringed edges showed a ghastly , livid white .

it hung so low that it almost seemed to be touching the tops of the wooded hills .

mr harmon andrews came clattering up the hill in his truck wagon , urging his team of grays to their utmost speed .

he pulled them to a halt opposite the school .

" guess uncle abe 's hit it for once in his life , anne , " he shouted .

" his storm 's coming a leetle ahead of time .

did ye ever see the like of that cloud ?

through all the clamor of the storm came the thud of torn branches striking the house and the sharp crack of breaking glass .

for three quarters of an hour the storm raged unabated and no one who underwent it ever forgot it .

anne , white as paper , had dragged the sofa away from the window and sat on it with a twin on either side .

davy at the first crash had howled , " anne , anne , is it the judgment day ?

dora , somewhat pale but quite composed , sat with her hand clasped in anne 's , quiet and motionless .

it is doubtful if an earthquake would have disturbed dora .

then , almost as suddenly as it began , the storm ceased .

marilla rose from her knees , weak and trembling , and dropped on her rocker .

her face was haggard and she looked ten years older .

" have we all come out of that alive ? " she asked solemnly .

" you bet we have , " piped davy cheerfully , quite his own man again .

" i wasn't a bit scared either . ..y ..y only just at the first .

it come on a fellow so sudden .

i made up my mind quick as a wink that i wouldn't fight teddy sloane monday as i 'd promised ; but now maybe i will .

say , dora , was you scared ? "

anne got marilla a glassful of her potent currant wine . . .

not only was every blossom stripped from the apple trees but great boughs and branches were wrenched away .

and out of the two hundred trees set out by the improvers by far the greater number were snapped off or torn to shreds .

" can it possibly be the same world it was an hour ago ? " asked anne , dazedly .

" it must have taken longer than that to play such havoc . "

" the like of this has never been known in prince edward island , " said marilla , " never .

i remember when i was a girl there was a bad storm , but it was nothing to this .

we 'll hear of terrible destruction , you may be sure . "

" i do hope none of the children were caught out in it , " murmured anne anxiously .

" there comes john henry carter , " said marilla .

john henry came wading through the hailstones with a rather scared grin .

" oh , ain't this awful , miss cuthbert ?

mr harrison sent me over to see if yous had come out all right . "

" we 're none of us killed , " said marilla grimly , " and none of the buildings was struck .

i hope you got off equally well . "

" yas 'm .

not quite so well , ma'am .

we was struck .

yas 'm . "

" was ginger hurt ? " queried anne .

" yas 'm .

he was hurt pretty bad .

he was killed . "

later on anne went over to comfort mr harrison .

she found him sitting by the table , stroking ginger 's gay dead body with a trembling hand .

" poor ginger won't call you any more names , anne , " he said mournfully .

anne could never have imagined herself crying on ginger 's account , but the tears came into her eyes .

" he was all the company i had , anne . ..y ..y and now he 's dead .

well , well , i 'm an old fool to care so much .

i 'll let on i don't care .

i know you 're going to say something sympathetic as soon as i stop talking . ..y ..y but don't .

if you did i 'd cry like a baby .

hasn't this been a terrible storm ?

i guess folks won't laugh at uncle abe 's predictions again .

seems as if all the storms that he 's been prophesying all his life that never happened came all at once .

beats all how he struck the very day though , don't it ?

look at the mess we have here .

i must hustle round and get some boards to patch up that hole in the floor . "

avonlea folks did nothing the next day but visit each other and compare damages .

the roads were impassable for wheels by reason of the hailstones , so they walked or rode on horseback .

the mail came late with ill tidings from all over the province .

uncle abe waded out to the blacksmith 's forge early in the morning and spent the whole day there .

it was uncle abe 's hour of triumph and he enjoyed it to the full .

uncle abe forgot that he had ever denied setting the day .

as for the trifling discrepancy in the hour , that was nothing .

gilbert arrived at green gables in the evening and found marilla and anne busily engaged in nailing strips of oilcloth over the broken windows .

" goodness only knows when we 'll get glass for them , " said marilla .

" mr barry went over to carmody this afternoon but not a pane could he get for love or money .

lawson and blair were cleaned out by the carmody people by ten o'clock .

was the storm bad at white sands , gilbert ? "

" i should say so .

i was caught in the school with all the children and i thought some of them would go mad with fright .

" i only squealed once , " said davy proudly .

anne came running down from the west gable .

" oh , gilbert , have you heard the news ?

mr levi boulter 's old house was struck and burned to the ground .

it seems to me that i 'm dreadfully wicked to feel glad over that , when so much damage has been done .

mr boulter says he believes the a.v.i.s. magicked up that storm on purpose . "

' uncle abe 's storm ' will go down in local history .

it is a most extraordinary coincidence that it should have come on the very day we selected .

i actually have a half guilty feeling , as if i really had ' magicked ' it up .

we may as well rejoice over the old house being removed , for there 's not much to rejoice over where our young trees are concerned .

not ten of them have escaped . "

" ah , well , we 'll just have to plant them over again next spring , " said anne philosophically .

" that is one good thing about this world . ..y ..y there are always sure to be more springs . "

xxv

an avonlea scandal

i 'm so sorry . . .

i wanted some for matthew 's grave .

he was always so fond of june lilies . "

and my annuals are all coming up again . ..y ..y but oh , nothing can replace the june lilies .

poor little hester gray will have none either .

i went all the way back to her garden last night but there wasn't one .

i 'm sure she 'll miss them . "

" i don't think it 's right for you to say such things , anne , i really don't , " said marilla severely .

" hester gray has been dead for thirty years and her spirit is in heaven . . .

i hope . "

" yes , but i believe she loves and remembers her garden here still , " said anne .

" i 'm sure no matter how long i 'd lived in heaven i 'd like to look down and see somebody putting flowers on my grave .

how sweet you are singing , little bird .

you are just putting the feelings of my heart into song ever so much better than i could myself .

why , who is coming ? "

an express wagon was jolting up the lane , with two people on the front seat and a big trunk behind .

" is this where mr james a harrison lives ? " she inquired briskly .

" no , mr harrison lives over there , " said anne , quite lost in astonishment .

" well , i did think this place seemed too tidy . . .

" is it true that james a. is going to be married to some woman living in this settlement ? "

" but i saw it in an island paper , " persisted the fair unknown .

" a friend sent a marked copy to me . ..y ..y friends are always so ready to do such things .

james a . 's name was written in over ' new citizen . ' "

" oh , that note was only meant as a joke , " gasped anne .

" mr harrison has no intention of marrying anybody .

i assure you he hasn't . "

i am his wife .

oh , you may well look surprised .

i suppose he has been masquerading as a bachelor and breaking hearts right and left .

well , well , james a ..y , " nodding vigorously over the fields at the long white house , " your fun is over .

i am here . ..y ..y though i wouldn't have bothered coming if i hadn't thought you were up to some mischief .

i suppose , " turning to anne , " that parrot of his is as profane as ever ? "

" his parrot . ..y ..y is dead . . .

i think , " gasped poor anne , who couldn't have felt sure of her own name at that precise moment .

" dead !

everything will be all right then , " cried the rosy lady jubilantly .

" i can manage james a. if that bird is out of the way . "

with which cryptic utterance she went joyfully on her way and anne flew to the kitchen door to meet marilla .

" anne , who was that woman ? "

" marilla , " said anne solemnly , but with dancing eyes , " do i look as if i were crazy ? "

" not more so than usual , " said marilla , with no thought of being sarcastic .

" well then , do you think i am awake ? "

" anne , what nonsense has got into you ?

who was that woman , i say ? "

anyway , i 'm sure i couldn't have imagined such a bonnet .

she says she is mr harrison 's wife , marilla . "

marilla stared in her turn .

" his wife !

anne shirley !

then what has he been passing himself off as an unmarried man for ? "

" i don't suppose he did , really , " said anne , trying to be just .

" he never said he wasn't married .

people simply took it for granted .

oh marilla , what will mrs lynde say to this ? "

they found out what mrs lynde had to say when she came up that evening .

mrs lynde wasn't surprised !

mrs lynde had always expected something of the sort !

mrs lynde had always known there was something about mr harrison !

" to think of his deserting his wife ! " she said indignantly .

" but we don't know that he deserted her , " protested anne , determined to believe her friend innocent till he was proved guilty .

" we don't know the rights of it at all . "

" well , we soon will .

i 'll find out the whole story and come in and tell you on the way back . "

mrs lynde rushed in where anne had feared to tread .

she and marilla waited expectantly for that good lady 's return , but waited in vain .

mrs lynde did not revisit green gables that night .

davy , arriving home at nine o'clock from the boulter place , explained why .

mrs lynde said to tell you she was sorry it was too late to call tonight .

anne , i 'm awful hungry .

we had tea at milty 's at four and i think mrs boulter is real mean .

she didn't give us any preserves or cake . ..y ..y and even the bread was skurce . "

" davy , when you go visiting you must never criticize anything you are given to eat , " said anne solemnly .

" it is very bad manners . "

" all right . . .

i 'll only think it , " said davy cheerfully .

" do give a fellow some supper , anne . "

anne looked at marilla , who followed her into the pantry and shut the door cautiously .

" you can give him some jam on his bread , i know what tea at levi boulter 's is apt to be . "

davy took his slice of bread and jam with a sigh .

" it 's a kind of disappointing world after all , " he remarked .

" milty has a cat that takes fits . ..y ..y she 's took a fit regular every day for three weeks .

milty says it 's awful fun to watch her .

but never mind " . . .

it doesn't seem likely she 'd stop having them all at once when she 's been so in the habit of it , does it ?

this jam is awful nice . "

davy had no sorrows that plum jam could not cure .

sunday proved so rainy that there was no stirring abroad ; but by monday everybody had heard some version of the harrison story .

the school buzzed with it and davy came home , full of information .

milty says one way is just to start off and leave your wife , and that 's what mr harrison did .

milty says mr harrison left his wife because she throwed things at him . . .

i wouldn't leave my wife for anything like that .

that'd settle her pretty quick i guess .

but annetta clay says she left him because he wouldn't scrape his boots at the door and she doesn't blame her .

i 'm going right over to mr harrison 's this minute to see what she's like . "

davy soon returned , somewhat cast down .

" mrs harrison was away . ..y ..y she 's gone to carmody with mrs rachel lynde to get new paper for the parlor .

and mr harrison said to tell anne to go over and see him ' cause he wants to have a talk with her .

and say , the floor is scrubbed , and mr harrison is shaved , though there wasn't any preaching yesterday . "

the harrison kitchen wore a very unfamiliar look to anne .

he was sprucely shaved and what little hair he had was carefully trimmed .

" emily 's gone over to carmody with rachel lynde . ..y ..y she 's struck up a lifelong friendship already with rachel lynde .

beats all how contrary women are .

well , anne , my easy times are over . . . all over .

it 's neatness and tidiness for me for the rest of my natural life , i suppose . "

mr harrison did his best to speak dolefully , but an irrepressible twinkle in his eye betrayed him .

" mr harrison , you are glad your wife is come back , " cried anne , shaking her finger at him .

" you needn't pretend you 're not , because i can see it plainly . "

mr harrison relaxed into a sheepish smile .

" well . ..y ..y well . . .

i 'm getting used to it , " he conceded .

" i can't say i was sorry to see emily .

" nobody would have supposed you went to see isabella andrews if you hadn't pretended to be unmarried , " said anne severely .

" i didn't pretend i was .

if anybody 'd have asked me if i was married i 'd have said i was .

but they just took it for granted .

i wasn't anxious to talk about the matter . . .

i was feeling too sore over it .

it would have been nuts for mrs rachel lynde if she had known my wife had left me , wouldn't it now ? "

" but some people say that you left her . "

" she started it , anne , she started it .

but let's go out on the veranda .

everything is so fearful neat in here that it kind of makes me homesick .

i suppose i 'll get used to it after awhile but it eases me up to look at the yard .

emily hasn't had time to tidy it up yet . "

as soon as they were comfortably seated on the veranda mr harrison began his tale of woe .

" i lived in scottsford , new brunswick , before i came here , anne .

but three years ago she died .

before she died she worried a lot about what was to become of me and finally she got me to promise i 'd get married .

she advised me to take emily scott because emily had money of her own and was a pattern housekeeper .

i said , says i , ' emily scott wouldn't look at me . '

and emily said she 'd have me .

never was so surprised in my life , anne . ..y ..y a smart pretty little woman like her and an old fellow like me .

i tell you i thought at first i was in luck .

well , we were married and took a little wedding trip to st john for a fortnight and then we went home .

well , she cleaned house till one o'clock that night and at four she was up and at it again .

and she kept on that way . ..y ..y far's i could see she never stopped .

it was scour and sweep and dust everlasting , except on sundays , and then she was just longing for monday to begin again .

but it was her way of amusing herself and i could have reconciled myself to it if she 'd left me alone .

but that she wouldn't do .

she 'd set out to make me over but she hadn't caught me young enough .

i wasn't allowed to come into the house unless i changed my boots for slippers at the door .

i darsn't smoke a pipe for my life unless i went to the barn .

and i didn't use good enough grammar .

emily 'd been a schoolteacher in her early life and she 'd never got over it .

then she hated to see me eating with my knife .

well , there it was , pick and nag everlasting .

but i s'pose , anne , to be fair , i was cantankerous too .

i didn't try to improve as i might have done . . .

i just got cranky and disagreeable when she found fault .

i told her one day she hadn't complained of my grammar when i proposed to her .

it wasn't an overly tactful thing to say .

a woman would forgive a man for beating her sooner than for hinting she was too much pleased to get him .

ginger was the rock we split on at last .

emily didn't like parrots and she couldn't stand ginger 's profane habits of speech .

i was attached to the bird for my brother the sailor 's sake .

my brother the sailor was a pet of mine when we were little tads and he 'd sent ginger to me when he was dying .

i didn't see any sense in getting worked up over his swearing .

but emily couldn't see it that way .

women ain't logical .

seemed as if the more she tried the worse ginger got , same as me .

" well , things went on like this , both of us getting raspier , till the climax came .

emily invited our minister and his wife to tea , and another minister and his wife that was visiting them .

i 'd promised to put ginger away in some safe place where nobody would hear him . . .

but it slipped my mind . . .

the gobbler had come into view in the yard and the sight of a gobbler always had an unwholesome effect on ginger .

he surpassed himself that time .

i went out and carried ginger to the barn .

i can't say i enjoyed the meal .

but there was no emily and there was a letter on the table . ..y ..y just according to the rule in story books .

i packed up her belongings and sent them after her .

it made an awful lot of talk . . .

scottsford was pretty near as bad as avonlea for gossip . ..y ..y and everybody sympathized with emily .

it kept me all cross and cantankerous and i saw i 'd have to get out or i 'd never have any peace .

i concluded i 'd come to the island .

so , just to be contrary , i moved over here .

and that 's all there is to it .

so she 's here and she 's going to stay . ..y ..y seeing that ginger 's dead and the island 's some bigger than she thought .

there 's mrs lynde and her now .

no , don't go , anne .

stay and get acquainted with emily .

she took quite a notion to you saturday . ..y ..y wanted to know who that handsome redhaired girl was at the next house . "

mrs harrison welcomed anne radiantly and insisted on her staying to tea .

" i want to get acquainted with all my new neighbors just as soon as possible .

mrs lynde is a lovely woman , isn't she ?

so friendly . "

" i suppose , " said mrs harrison confidentially , " that james a. has told you our story ? "

" yes . "

" then i needn't tell it , for james a. is a just man and he would tell the truth .

the blame was far from being all on his side .

i can see that now .

i wasn't back in my own house an hour before i wished i hadn't been so hasty but i wouldn't give in .

i see now that i expected too much of a man .

and i was real foolish to mind his bad grammar .

i feel that james a. and i are going to be real happy now .

i wish i knew who ' observer ' is , so that i could thank him .

i owe him a real debt of gratitude . "

anne kept her own counsel and mrs harrison never knew that her gratitude found its way to its object .

anne felt rather bewildered over the far-reaching consequences of those foolish " notes . "

they had reconciled a man to his wife and made the reputation of a prophet .

mrs lynde was in the green gables kitchen .

she had been telling the whole story to marilla .

" well , and how do you like mrs harrison ? " she asked anne .

" very much .

i think she 's a real nice little woman . "

well , i must get back .

thomas 'll be wearying for me .

i hear gilbert blythe has resigned from white sands .

he 'll be off to college in the fall , i suppose . "

she carried davy away , her oval girlish cheek pressed against his curly yellow head .

as they went up the stairs davy flung a tired arm about anne 's neck and gave her a warm hug and a sticky kiss .

" you 're awful nice , anne .

milty boulter wrote on his slate today and showed it to jennie sloane ,

" ' roses red and vi'lets blue , sugar 's sweet , and so are you "

and that ' spresses my feelings for you ezackly , anne . "

xxvi

around the bend

thomas lynde faded out of life as quietly and unobtrusively as he had lived it .

his wife was a tender , patient , unwearied nurse .

" a good wife .

i 'm sorry i ain't leaving you better off ; but the children will look after you .

they 're all smart , capable children , just like their mother .

a good mother . ..y ..y a good woman . . . . "

" anne , thomas lynde is gone . ..y ..y their hired boy just brought the word .

i 'm going right down to rachel . "

on the day after thomas lynde 's funeral marilla went about green gables with a strangely preoccupied air .

occasionally she looked at anne , seemed on the point of saying something , then shook her head and buttoned up her mouth .

" how is mrs lynde tonight ? " asked the latter .

" but she 's very lonely .

eliza had to go home today . ..y ..y her son isn't well and she felt she couldn't stay any longer . "

" when i 've finished these exercises i 'll run down and chat awhile with mrs lynde , " said anne .

" i had intended to study some latin composition tonight but it can wait . "

" i suppose gilbert blythe is going to college in the fall , " said marilla jerkily .

" how would you like to go too , anne ? "

anne looked up in astonishment .

" i would like it , of course , marilla .

but it isn't possible . "

" i guess it can be made possible .

i 've always felt that you should go .

i 've never felt easy to think you were giving it all up on my account . "

" but marilla , i 've never been sorry for a moment that i stayed home .

i 've been so happy . . .

oh , these past two years have just been delightful . "

" oh , yes , i know you 've been contented enough .

but that isn't the question exactly .

you ought to go on with your education .

" yes , but i can't go , marilla .

your eyes are better , of course ; but i can't leave you alone with the twins .

they need so much looking after . "

" i won't be alone with them .

that 's what i meant to discuss with you .

i had a long talk with rachel tonight .

anne , she 's feeling dreadful bad over a good many things .

she 's not left very well off .

and then of course thomas ' illness has cost a good deal , one way or another .

the farm will have to be sold and rachel thinks there 'll be hardly anything left after the bills are settled .

she says she 'll have to go and live with eliza and it 's breaking her heart to think of leaving avonlea .

a woman of her age doesn't make new friends and interests easy .

if i had rachel living with me you could go to college .

how do you feel about it ? "

" but as for asking mrs lynde to come here , that is for you to decide , marilla .

do you think . . . are you sure . ..y ..y you would like it ?

mrs lynde is a good woman and a kind neighbor , but . . . but . . . "

" but she 's got her faults , you mean to say ?

i 'd miss her terrible .

she 's the only close friend i 've got here and i 'd be lost without her .

do you remember , anne ? "

" i should think i do , " said anne ruefully .

" people don't forget things like that .

how i hated poor mrs rachel at that moment ! "

" and then that ' apology ' you made her .

well , you were a handful , in all conscience , anne .

i did feel so puzzled and bewildered how to manage you .

matthew understood you better . "

" matthew understood everything , " said anne softly , as she always spoke of him .

" well , i think it could be managed so that rachel and i wouldn't clash at all .

she could put her stove there and what furniture she wanted to keep , and be real comfortable and independent .

she 'll have enough to live on of course ... her children 'll see to that ... so all i 'd be giving her would be house room .

yes , anne , far as i 'm concerned i 'd like it . "

" then ask her , " said anne promptly .

" i 'd be very sorry myself to see mrs rachel go away . "

" and if she comes , " continued marilla , " you can go to college as well as not .

anne had a long meditation at her window that night .

joy and regret struggled together in her heart .

she must give up her school . ..y ..y and she loved every one of her pupils , even the stupid and naughty ones .

the mere thought of paul irving made her wonder if redmond were such a name to conjure with after all .

but it 's best to go , i think , and , as marilla says , there 's no good reason why i shouldn't .

i must get out all my ambitions and dust them . "

" i certainly never thought of living as far off the road as green gables , " sighed mrs rachel to herself .

" but really , green gables doesn't seem as out of the world as it used to do . . .

anne has lots of company and the twins make it real lively .

and anyhow , i 'd rather live at the bottom of a well than leave avonlea . "

these two decisions being noised abroad speedily ousted the arrival of mrs harrison in popular gossip .

sage heads were shaken over marilla cuthbert 's rash step in asking mrs rachel to live with her .

people opined that they wouldn't get on together .

they had come to a clear and distinct understanding of the respective duties and rights of their new arrangements and meant to abide by them .

i 'm not an encyclopedia , neither am i a philadelphia lawyer .

you 'll miss anne for that . "

" sometimes anne 's answers were about as queer as davy 's questions , " said marilla drily .

" the twins will miss her and no mistake ; but her future can't be sacrificed to davy 's thirst for information .

when he asks questions i can't answer i 'll just tell him children should be seen and not heard .

" well , anne 's methods seem to have worked fairly well with davy , " said mrs lynde smilingly .

" he is a reformed character , that's what . "

" he isn't a bad little soul , " conceded marilla .

" i never expected to get as fond of those children as i have .

" monotonous ?

exactly , " supplied mrs . rachel .

" like a book where every page is the same , that's what .

dora will make a good , reliable woman but she 'll never set the pond on fire .

well , that sort of folks are comfortable to have round , even if they 're not as interesting as the other kind . "

gilbert blythe was probably the only person to whom the news of anne 's resignation brought unmixed pleasure .

her pupils looked upon it as a sheer catastrophe .

annetta bell had hysterics when she went home .

anthony pye fought two pitched and unprovoked battles with other boys by way of relieving his feelings .

barbara shaw cried all night .

paul irving defiantly told his grandmother that she needn't expect him to eat any porridge for a week .

" i can't do it , grandma , " he said .

" i don't really know if i can eat anything .

i feel as if there was a dreadful lump in my throat .

i 'd have cried coming home from school if jake donnell hadn't been watching me .

i believe i will cry after i go to bed .

it wouldn't show on my eyes tomorrow , would it ?

and it would be such a relief .

but anyway , i can't eat porridge .

oh grandma , i don't know what i 'll do when my beautiful teacher goes away .

milty boulter says he bets jane andrews will get the school .

i suppose miss andrews is very nice .

but i know she won't understand things like miss shirley . "

diana also took a very pessimistic view of affairs .

" you and gilbert will be gone . ..y ..y and the allans too .

they are going to call mr allan to charlottetown and of course he 'll accept .

it 's too mean .

" i hope they won't call mr baxter from east grafton here , anyhow , " said anne decidedly .

" he wants the call but he does preach such gloomy sermons .

mr bell says he 's a minister of the old school , but mrs lynde says there 's nothing whatever the matter with him but indigestion .

mrs allan feels very badly about going away .

and then , there 's the baby 's grave , you know .

she told me all about it last evening when i was up putting some of those early wild roses on matthew 's grave .

" that i would do it , " supplied diana heartily .

" of course i will .

and i 'll put them on matthew 's grave too , for your sake , anne . "

" oh , thank you .

i meant to ask you to if you would .

and on little hester gray 's too ?

please don't forget hers .

do you know , i 've thought and dreamed so much about little hester gray that she has become strangely real to me .

and we would sit down on the old bench and talk a little and dream a little , or just be beautifully silent together .

and i would not know whether it had been real or if i had just imagined it all . "

diana crawled up and got her back against the headboard of the bed .

" i 'm afraid the improvement society will go down when you and gilbert are both gone , " she remarked dolefully .

" not a bit of fear of it , " said anne briskly , coming back from dreamland to the affairs of practical life .

" it is too firmly established for that , especially since the older people are becoming so enthusiastic about it .

look what they are doing this summer for their lawns and lanes .

besides , i 'll be watching for hints at redmond and i 'll write a paper for it next winter and send it over .

don't take such a gloomy view of things , diana .

and don't grudge me my little hour of gladness and jubilation now .

later on , when i have to go away , i 'll feel anything but glad . "

" i hope i shall make new friends , " said anne thoughtfully .

" the possibilities of making new friends help to make life very fascinating .

can you guess who she is , diana ? "

well , of course these past two years have really been too pleasant to last .

i know somebody who is glad you are going to redmond anyhow .

anne , i 'm going to ask you a question . ..y ..y a serious question .

don't be vexed and do answer seriously .

do you care anything for gilbert ? "

diana sighed .

she wished , somehow , that anne had answered differently .

" don't you mean ever to be married , anne ? "

" but how can you be sure when you do meet the right one ? " persisted diana .

" oh , i should know him . . .

something would tell me .

you know what my ideal is , diana . "

" but people 's ideals change sometimes . "

" mine won't .

and i couldn't care for any man who didn't fulfill it . "

" what if you never meet him ? "

" then i shall die an old maid , " was the cheerful response .

" i daresay it isn't the hardest death by any means . "

" although i wouldn't mind being an old maid very much if i could be one like miss lavendar .

but i never could be .

when i 'm forty-five i 'll be horribly fat .

and while there might be some romance about a thin old maid there couldn't possibly be any about a fat one .

oh , mind you , nelson atkins proposed to ruby gillis three weeks ago .

ruby told me all about it .

and she says wilbur blair is literally pining away for her but she 's perfectly helpless in the matter . "

anne made an impatient movement .

i liked her when we went to school and queen 's together . ..y ..y though not so well as you and jane of course .

but this last year at carmody she seems so different . ..y ..y so . ..y ..y so . . . "

" i know , " nodded diana .

" it 's the gillis coming out in her . ..y ..y she can't help it .

mrs lynde says that if ever a gillis girl thought about anything but the boys she never showed it in her walk and conversation .

she talks about nothing but boys and what compliments they pay her , and how crazy they all are about her at carmody .

and the strange thing is , they are , too . . . "

diana admitted this somewhat resentfully .

" last night when i saw her in mr blair 's store she whispered to me that she 'd just made a new ' mash . '

i wouldn't ask her who it was , because i knew she was dying to be asked .

well , it 's what ruby always wanted , i suppose .

she 's so different from jane , isn't she ?

jane is such a nice , sensible , lady-like girl . "

do you remember that evening we first met , diana , and ' swore ' eternal friendship in your garden ?

we 've kept that ' oath , ' i think . ..y ..y we 've never had a quarrel nor even a coolness .

i shall never forget the thrill that went over me the day you told me you loved me .

i had had such a lonely , starved heart all through my childhood .

i 'm just beginning to realize how starved and lonely it really was .

nobody cared anything for me or wanted to be bothered with me .

but when i came to green gables everything was changed .

and then i met you .

you don't know what your friendship meant to me .

i want to thank you here and now , dear , for the warm and true affection you 've always given me . "

" and always , always will , " sobbed diana .

" i shall never love anybody . ..y ..y any girl . ..y ..y half as well as i love you .

and if i ever do marry and have a little girl of my own i 'm going to name her anne . "

xxvii

an afternoon at the stone house

" where are you going , all dressed up , anne ? "

davy wanted to know .

" you look bully in that dress . "

it became her perfectly , bringing out all the delicate , flower-like tints of her face and the gloss and burnish of her hair .

" davy , how many times have i told you that you mustn't use that word , " she rebuked .

" i 'm going to echo lodge . "

" take me with you , " entreated davy .

" i would if i were driving .

but i 'm going to walk and it 's too far for your eight-year-old legs .

besides , paul is going with me and i fear you don't enjoy yourself in his company . "

" oh , i like paul lots better'n i did , " said davy , beginning to make fearful inroads into his pudding .

" since i 've got pretty good myself i don't mind his being gooder so much .

if i can keep on i 'll catch up with him some day , both in legs and goodness .

' sides , paul 's real nice to us second primer boys in school .

he won't let the other big boys meddle with us and he shows us lots of games . "

" how came paul to fall into the brook at noon hour yesterday ? " asked anne .

" well , it was partly a zacksident , " explained davy .

" he stuck his head in on purpose but the rest of him fell in zacksidentally .

he 's clean gone on her . ..y ..y brings her flowers and carries her books as far as the shore road .

he got as red as a beet and said his grandmother didn't do any such thing and his hair was born curly .

and then he laid down on the bank and stuck his head right into the spring to show them .

but the bank 's awful slippy and paul went right in .

i tell you he made a bully splash .

oh , anne , anne , i didn't mean to say that . ..y ..y it just slipped out before i thought .

he made a splendid splash .

but he looked so funny when he crawled out , all wet and muddy .

the girls laughed more'n ever , but gracie didn't laugh .

she looked sorry .

gracie 's a nice girl but she 's got a snub nose .

when i get big enough to have a girl i won't have one with a snub nose . . .

i 'll pick one with a pretty nose like yours , anne . "

" and i 'll wash behind my ears too , without being told .

i remembered to this morning , marilla .

i don't forget half as often as i did .

well , if i can't go to miss lavendar 's i 'll go over and see mrs harrison .

mrs harrison 's an awful nice woman , i tell you .

a good many plums stick to the sides , you see .

mr harrison was always a nice man , but he 's twice as nice since he got married over again .

i guess getting married makes folks nicer .

why don't you get married , marilla ?

i want to know . "

" but maybe you never asked anybody to have you , " protested davy .

" i don't know why they have to do it always , " grumbled davy .

" seems to me everything 's put on the men in this world .

can i have some more pudding , marilla ? "

" you 've had as much as was good for you , " said marilla ; but she gave him a moderate second helping .

" i wish people could live on pudding .

why can't they , marilla ?

i want to know . "

" because they 'd soon get tired of it . "

" i 'd like to try that for myself , " said skeptical davy .

" but i guess it 's better to have pudding only on fish and company days than none at all .

they never have any at milty boulter 's .

" if milty boulter talks like that about his mother at least you needn't repeat it , " said marilla severely .

" bless my soul , " . . .

davy had picked this expression up from mr harrison and used it with great gusto . . .

" milty meant it as a compelment .

he 's awful proud of his mother , cause folks say she could scratch a living on a rock . "

" i . . .

i suppose them pesky hens are in my pansy bed again , " said marilla , rising and going out hurriedly .

the slandered hens were nowhere near the pansy bed and marilla did not even glance at it .

instead , she sat down on the cellar hatch and laughed until she was ashamed of herself .

" welcome , anne .

i thought you 'd come today .

you belong to the afternoon so it brought you .

things that belong together are sure to come together .

what a lot of trouble that would save some people if they only knew it .

but they don't . ..y ..y and so they waste beautiful energy moving heaven and earth to bring things together that don't belong .

and you , paul . ..y ..y why , you 've grown !

you 're half a head taller than when you were here before . "

" grandma says it 's the porridge taking effect at last .

perhaps it is .

goodness knows . . . "

paul sighed deeply . . .

" i 've eaten enough to make anyone grow .

i do hope , now that i 've begun , i 'll keep on till i 'm as tall as father .

he is six feet , you know , miss lavendar . "

" is it a good day for the echoes , miss lavendar ? " queried paul anxiously .

the day of his first visit had been too windy for echoes and paul had been much disappointed .

" yes , just the best kind of a day , " answered miss lavendar , rousing herself from her reverie .

" but first we are all going to have something to eat .

so we 'll just make a raid on the pantry .

fortunately it 's lovely and full .

i had a presentiment that i was going to have company today and charlotta the fourth and i prepared . "

" i think you are one of the people who always have nice things in their pantry , " declared paul .

" grandma 's like that too .

but she doesn't approve of snacks between meals .

i wonder , " he added meditatively , " if i ought to eat them away from home when i know she doesn't approve . "

" oh , i don't think she would disapprove after you have had a long walk .

that makes a difference , " said miss lavendar , exchanging amused glances with anne over paul 's brown curls .

" i suppose that snacks are extremely unwholesome .

that is why we have them so often at echo lodge .

we . . .

charlotta the fourth and i . ..y ..y live in defiance of every known law of diet .

we are always intending to reform .

but we never can somehow . ..y ..y until after we 've gone and eaten that very thing .

" so i 'm always glad when it 's sunday night . ..y ..y for more reasons than one .

sunday is a very long day on the shore road .

grandma says it 's all too short for her and that father never found sundays tiresome when he was a little boy .

i think a good deal ; but i 'm afraid my thoughts are worldly .

grandma says we should never think anything but religious thoughts on sundays .

but i feel sure grandma thinks that sermons and sunday school lessons are the only things you can think truly religious thoughts about .

and when it comes to a difference of opinion between grandma and teacher i don't know what to do .

in my heart " . . .

paul laid his hand on his breast and raised very serious blue eyes to miss lavendar 's immediately sympathetic face . . .

" i agree with teacher .

but you can't tell how they 'll turn out till they are grown up .

so sometimes i feel as if it might be safer to go by grandma 's opinions . "

" i think it would , " agreed anne solemnly .

you 'd better go by her way of expressing it , since it 's been the result of experience .

we 'll have to wait until we see how the twins do turn out before we can be sure that my way is equally good . "

" so you are going away in the fall ? " said miss lavendar wistfully .

" i ought to be glad for your sake , anne . ..y ..y but i 'm horribly , selfishly sorry .

i shall miss you so much .

oh , sometimes , i think it is of no use to make friends .

they only go out of your life after awhile and leave a hurt that is worse than the emptiness before they came . "

" that sounds like something miss eliza andrews might say but never miss lavendar , " said anne .

" nothing is worse than emptiness . ..y ..y and i 'm not going out of your life .

there are such things as letters and vacations .

dearest , i 'm afraid you 're looking a little pale and tired . "

miss lavendar made an impatient movement with her pretty hands .

" i 'm just tired of everything . ..y ..y even of the echoes .

there is nothing in my life but echoes . ..y ..y echoes of lost hopes and dreams and joys .

they 're beautiful and mocking .

oh anne , it 's horrid of me to talk like this when i have company .

it 's just that i 'm getting old and it doesn't agree with me .

i know i 'll be fearfully cranky by the time i 'm sixty .

but perhaps all i need is a course of blue pills . "

" early strawberries for tea ! " exclaimed miss lavendar .

" oh , i 'm not so old as i thought . ..y ..y and i don't need a single blue pill !

girls , when you come back with your strawberries we 'll have tea out here under the silver poplar .

i 'll have it all ready for you with home-grown cream . "

" oh , isn't it sweet and fresh back here ? " breathed anne .

" i just feel as if i were drinking in the sunshine . "

it seemed so easy when you watched anne .

charlotta the fourth admired anne wholeheartedly .

it was not that she thought her so very handsome .

" but i 'd rather look like you than be pretty , " she told anne sincerely .

anne laughed , sipped the honey from the tribute , and cast away the sting .

she was used to taking her compliments mixed .

public opinion never agreed on anne 's looks .

people who had heard her called handsome met her and were disappointed .

people who had heard her called plain saw her and wondered where other people 's eyes were .

anne herself would never believe that she had any claim to beauty .

when she looked in the glass all she saw was a little pale face with seven freckles on the nose thereof .

she seemed to walk in an atmosphere of things about to happen .

as they picked , charlotta the fourth confided to anne her fears regarding miss lavendar .

the warm-hearted little handmaiden was honestly worried over her adored mistress ' condition .

" miss lavendar isn't well , miss shirley , ma'am .

i 'm sure she isn't , though she never complains .

she hasn't seemed like herself this long while , ma'am . ..y ..y not since that day you and paul were here together before .

i feel sure she caught cold that night , ma'am .

there was a lot of snow on the walks and i feel sure she got a chill , ma'am .

ever since then i 've noticed her acting tired and lonesome like .

she don't seem to take an interest in anything , ma'am .

she never pretends company 's coming , nor fixes up for it , nor nothing , ma'am .

it 's only when you come she seems to chirk up a bit .

and the worst sign of all , miss shirley , ma'am . . . "

why , miss shirley , ma'am , yesterday i bruk her green and yaller bowl that 's always stood on the bookcase .

her grandmother brought it out from england and miss lavendar was awful choice of it .

i tell you i was sorry and scared .

i thought miss lavendar would scold me awful , ma'am ; and i 'd ruther she had than take it the way she did .

she just come in and hardly looked at it and said , ' it 's no matter , charlotta .

take up the pieces and throw them away . '

oh , she isn't well and i feel awful bad about it .

she 's got nobody to look after her but me . "

charlotta the fourth 's eyes brimmed up with tears .

anne patted the little brown paw holding the cracked pink cup sympathetically .

" i think miss lavendar needs a change , charlotta .

she stays here alone too much .

can't we induce her to go away for a little trip ? "

charlotta shook her head , with its rampant bows , disconsolately .

" i don't think so , miss shirley , ma'am .

miss lavendar hates visiting .

she 's only got three relations she ever visits and she says she just goes to see them as a family duty .

last time when she come home she said she wasn't going to visit for family duty no more .

my relations try so hard to make an old lady of me and it has a bad effect on me . '

just like that , miss shirley , ma'am .

' it has a very bad effect on me . '

so i don't think it would do any good to coax her to go visiting . "

" we must see what can be done , " said anne decidedly , as she put the last possible berry in her pink cup .

" just as soon as i have my vacation i 'll come through and spend a whole week with you .

we 'll have a picnic every day and pretend all sorts of interesting things , and see if we can't cheer miss lavendar up . "

" that will be the very thing , miss shirley , ma'am , " exclaimed charlotta the fourth in rapture .

she was glad for miss lavendar 's sake and for her own too .

with a whole week in which to study anne constantly she would surely be able to learn how to move and behave like her .

" miss lavendar , why do you look at me like that ? " he asked gravely .

" how do i look , paul ? "

" you do put me in mind of somebody i knew long ago , " said miss lavendar dreamily .

" when you were young ? "

" yes , when i was young .

do i seem very old to you , paul ? "

" do you know , i can't make up my mind about that , " said paul confidentially .

" your hair looks old . . .

i never knew a young person with white hair .

but your eyes are as young as my beautiful teacher 's when you laugh .

i tell you what , miss lavendar " . . .

paul 's voice and face were as solemn as a judge 's . . .

" i think you would make a splendid mother .

you have just the right look in your eyes . ..y ..y the look my little mother always had .

i think it's a pity you haven't any boys of your own . "

" i have a little dream boy , paul . "

" oh , have you really ?

how old is he ? "

" about your age i think .

he ought to be older because i dreamed him long before you were born .

" i know , " nodded paul .

" that 's the beauty of dream-people . ..y ..y they stay any age you want them .

you and my beautiful teacher and me myself are the only folks in the world that i know of that have dream-people .

isn't it funny and nice we should all know each other ?

but i guess that kind of people always find each other out .

grandma never has dream-people and mary joe thinks i 'm wrong in the upper story because i have them .

but i think it 's splendid to have them .

you know , miss lavendar .

tell me all about your little dream-boy . "

" he has blue eyes and curly hair .

he steals in and wakens me with a kiss every morning .

then all day he plays here in the garden . ..y ..y and i play with him .

such games as we have .

we run races and talk with the echoes ; and i tell him stories .

and when twilight comes . . . "

" i know , " interrupted paul eagerly .

" he comes and sits beside you . . .

oh , you do know , miss lavendar . "

" i 'm afraid we must go , paul , if we want to get home before dark .

miss lavendar , i 'm going to invite myself to echo lodge for a whole week pretty soon . "

" if you come for a week i 'll keep you for two , " threatened miss lavendar .

xxviii

the prince comes back to the enchanted palace

the last day of school came and went .

a triumphant " semi-annual examination " was held and anne 's pupils acquitted themselves splendidly .

at the close they gave her an address and a writing desk .

mrs harmon andrews , mrs peter sloane , and mrs william bell walked home together and talked things over .

" to be sure , " she added hastily , " we all know we 'll have a good teacher next year too . "

" jane will do her duty , i 've no doubt , " said mrs andrews rather stiffly .

" i don't suppose she 'll tell the children quite so many fairy tales or spend so much time roaming about the woods with them .

but she has her name on the inspector 's roll of honor and the newbridge people are in a terrible state over her leaving . "

" i 'm real glad anne is going to college , " said mrs bell .

" she has always wanted it and it will be a splendid thing for her . "

" well , i don't know . "

mrs andrews was determined not to agree fully with anybody that day .

" i don't see that anne needs any more education .

if they taught you at college how to manage a man there might be some sense in her going . "

" i see that the charlottetown call to mr allan is up before the presbytery , " said mrs bell .

" that means we 'll be losing him soon , i suppose . "

" they 're not going before september , " said mrs sloane .

but we are none of us perfect .

did you notice how neat and snug mr harrison looked today ?

i never saw such a changed man .

he goes to church every sunday and has subscribed to the salary . "

" hasn't that paul irving grown to be a big boy ? " said mrs andrews .

" he was such a mite for his age when he came here .

i declare i hardly knew him today .

he 's getting to look a lot like his father . "

" he 's a smart boy , " said mrs bell .

" he 's smart enough , but " . . .

mrs andrews lowered her voice . . .

" i believe he tells queer stories .

i told gracie not to believe them , and she said paul didn't intend her to .

but if he didn't what did he tell them to her for ? "

" anne says paul is a genius , " said mrs sloane .

" he may be .

you never know what to expect of them americans , " said mrs andrews .

she probably thought , with mary joe , that it meant a person with something wrong in his upper story .

her heart was so wrung over the parting with her pupils that for a moment college had lost all its charm .

for two years she had worked earnestly and faithfully , making many mistakes and learning from them .

she had had her reward .

" another chapter in my life is closed , " said anne aloud , as she locked her desk .

she really felt very sad over it ; but the romance in the idea of that " closed chapter " did comfort her a little .

anne spent a fortnight at echo lodge early in her vacation and everybody concerned had a good time .

" what a foolish , frivolous person i must be , " she sighed .

in the evening she went down to the shore road to see paul irving .

" oh , miss shirley , " he cried excitedly , " you can't think what has happened !

something so splendid .

father is here . ..y ..y just think of that !

father is here !

come right in .

father , this is my beautiful teacher .

you know , father . "

stephen irving came forward to meet anne with a smile .

just the face for a hero of romance , anne thought with a thrill of intense satisfaction .

anne would have thought it dreadful if the object of miss lavendar 's romance had not looked the part .

i want to thank you for what you have done for paul .

i think that your influence has been just what he needed .

what was lacking in her you have supplied .

between you , i think paul 's training in these two past years has been as nearly ideal as a motherless boy 's could be . "

everybody likes to be appreciated .

paul sat between them blissfully happy .

" i never dreamed father was coming , " he said radiantly .

" even grandma didn't know it .

it was a great surprise .

as a general thing . . . "

paul shook his brown curls gravely . . .

" i don't like to be surprised .

you lose all the fun of expecting things when you 're surprised .

but in a case like this it is all right .

father came last night after i had gone to bed .

but i woke right up and saw father .

i tell you i just sprang at him . "

" with a hug like a bear 's , " said mr irving , putting his arms around paul 's shoulder smilingly .

" i hardly knew my boy , he had grown so big and brown and sturdy . "

" i don't know which was the most pleased to see father , grandma or i , " continued paul .

" grandma 's been in kitchen all day making the things father likes to eat .

she wouldn't trust them to mary joe , she says .

that 's her way of showing gladness .

i like best just to sit and talk to father .

but i 'm going to leave you for a little while now if you 'll excuse me .

i must get the cows for mary joe .

that is one of my daily duties . "

when paul had scampered away to do his " daily duty " mr irving talked to anne of various matters .

but anne felt that he was thinking of something else underneath all the time .

presently it came to the surface .

" in paul 's last letter he spoke of going with you to visit an old . ..y ..y friend of mine . . .

miss lewis at the stone house in grafton .

do you know her well ? "

anne " felt instinctively " that romance was peeping at her around a corner .

mr irving rose and went to the window , looking out on a great , golden , billowing sea where a wild wind was harping .

for a few moments there was silence in the little dark-walled room .

then he turned and looked down into anne 's sympathetic face with a smile , half-whimsical , half-tender .

" i wonder how much you know , " he said .

" i know all about it , " replied anne promptly .

" you see , " she explained hastily , " miss lavendar and i are very intimate .

she wouldn't tell things of such a sacred nature to everybody .

we are kindred spirits . "

" yes , i believe you are .

well , i am going to ask a favor of you .

i would like to go and see miss lavendar if she will let me .

will you ask her if i may come ? "

would she not ?

oh , indeed she would !

yes , this was romance , the very , the real thing , with all the charm of rhyme and story and dream .

never did anne 's feet bear her on a more willing errand than on that walk through the beechwoods to grafton the next morning .

she found miss lavendar in the garden .

anne was fearfully excited .

her hands grew cold and her voice trembled .

" miss lavendar , i have something to tell you . ..y ..y something very important .

can you guess what it is ? "

" stephen irving is home ? "

" how did you know ?

who told you ? " cried anne disappointedly , vexed that her great revelation had been anticipated .

" nobody .

i knew that must be it , just from the way you spoke . "

" he wants to come and see you , " said anne .

" may i send him word that he may ? "

" yes , of course , " fluttered miss lavendar .

" there is no reason why he shouldn't .

he is only coming as any old friend might . "

anne had her own opinion about that as she hastened into the house to write a note at miss lavendar 's desk .

" oh , it 's delightful to be living in a storybook , " she thought gaily .

" it 's so very important , " anne assured him anxiously .

but he said he would do his best to remember and she had to be contented with that .

charlotta the fourth felt that some mystery pervaded the stone house that afternoon . . . a mystery from which she was excluded .

miss lavendar roamed about the garden in a distracted fashion .

anne , too , seemed possessed by a demon of unrest , and walked to and fro and went up and down .

you see , prince charming is coming tonight .

" oh , miss shirley , ma'am , what is that in prose ? " gasped the mystified charlotta .

anne laughed .

" in prose , an old friend of miss lavendar 's is coming to see her tonight . "

" do you mean an old beau of hers ? " demanded the literal charlotta .

" that is probably what i do mean . ..y ..y in prose , " answered anne gravely .

" it is paul 's father . . .

stephen irving .

and goodness knows what will come of it , but let us hope for the best , charlotta . "

" i hope that he 'll marry miss lavendar , " was charlotta 's unequivocal response .

but miss lavendar never was .

and i 've been awful worried , thinking what on earth she 'd do when i got so big i'd have to go to boston .

she might get someone who wouldn't be as unlucky as me in breaking dishes but she 'd never get anyone who 'd love her better . "

and the faithful little handmaiden dashed to the oven door with a sniff .

they went through the form of having tea as usual that night at echo lodge ; but nobody really ate anything .

after tea miss lavendar went to her room and put on her new forget-me-not organdy , while anne did her hair for her .

both were dreadfully excited ; but miss lavendar pretended to be very calm and indifferent .

" those curtains have not worn as well as they should , considering the price i paid .

dear me , charlotta has forgotten to dust the stair railing again .

i really must speak to her about it . "

anne was sitting on the porch steps when stephen irving came down the lane and across the garden .

" this is the one place where time stands still , " he said , looking around him with delighted eyes .

" there is nothing changed about this house or garden since i was here twenty-five years ago .

it makes me feel young again . "

" you know time always does stand still in an enchanted palace , " said anne seriously .

" it is only when the prince comes that things begin to happen . "

mr irving smiled a little sadly into her uplifted face , all astar with its youth and promise .

" sometimes the prince comes too late , " he said .

he did not ask anne to translate her remark into prose .

like all kindred spirits he " understood . "

and oh , miss shirley , ma'am , do you think it would be much harm to listen at the door ? "

" i can't do anything , and it 's awful to hang round just waiting , " sighed charlotta .

" what if he don't propose after all , miss shirley , ma'am ?

you can never be sure of them men .

my older sister , charlotta the first , thought she was engaged to one once .

but it turned out he had a different opinion and she says she 'll never trust one of them again .

" we 'll go to the kitchen and clean the silver spoons , " said anne .

" that 's a task which won't require much thinking fortunately . ..y ..y for i couldn't think tonight .

and it will pass the time . "

it passed an hour .

then , just as anne laid down the last shining spoon , they heard the front door shut .

both sought comfort fearfully in each other 's eyes .

they flew to the window .

mr irving had no intention of going away .

he and miss lavendar were strolling slowly down the middle path to the stone bench .

" oh , miss shirley , ma'am , he 's got his arm around her waist , " whispered charlotta the fourth delightedly .

" he must have proposed to her or she 'd never allow it . "

anne caught charlotta the fourth by her own plump waist and danced her around the kitchen until they were both out of breath .

there 'll be a wedding in this old stone house before the maple leaves are red .

do you want that translated into prose , charlotta ? "

" no , i can understand that , " said charlotta .

" a wedding ain't poetry .

why , miss shirley , ma'am , you 're crying !

what for ? "

" it 's all perfectly lovely . ..y ..y but there 's a little sadness mixed up in it too , somehow . "

xxix

poetry and prose

for the next month anne lived in what , for avonlea , might be called a whirl of excitement .

the preparation of her own modest outfit for redmond was of secondary importance .

then the dressmaker came , and there was the rapture and wretchedness of choosing fashions and being fitted .

everybody concerned in miss lavendar 's story was very happy .

paul irving rushed to green gables to talk the news over with anne as soon as his father had told him .

" i knew i could trust father to pick me out a nice little second mother , " he said proudly .

" it 's a fine thing to have a father you can depend on , teacher .

i just love miss lavendar .

grandma is pleased , too .

but i hope she won't give her queer notions up , teacher , because i like them .

and i don't want her to be like other people .

there are too many other people around as it is .

you know , teacher . "

charlotta the fourth was another radiant person .

" oh , miss shirley , ma'am , it has all turned out so beautiful .

ain't mr irving splendid ?

it beggars description , miss shirley , ma'am .

i 'm awful thankful they're so fond of each other .

it 's the best way , when all 's said and done , though some folks can get along without it .

but i think she took a resk , miss shirley , ma'am . "

" oh , it 's all so romantic , " breathed anne to marilla that night .

mr irving says whenever he got that letter he made up his mind to send his partner to san francisco and come here instead .

he hadn't heard anything of miss lavendar for fifteen years .

somebody had told him then that she was to be married and he thought she was and never asked anybody anything about her .

and now everything has come right .

and i had a hand in bringing it about .

perhaps , as mrs lynde says , everything is foreordained and it was bound to happen anyway .

but even so , it 's nice to think one was an instrument used by predestination .

yes indeed , it 's very romantic . "

" i can't see that it 's so terribly romantic at all , " said marilla rather crisply .

then his wife dies and after a decent interval he thinks he 'll come home and see if his first fancy 'll have him .

now , where is the romance in all that ? "

" i suppose that 's how it looks in prose .

but it 's very different if you look at it through poetry . ..y ..y and i think it 's nicer . . . "

anne recovered herself and her eyes shone and her cheeks flushed . ..y ..y " to look at it through poetry . "

marilla glanced at the radiant young face and refrained from further sarcastic comments .

" when 's the wedding to be ? " she asked after a pause .

" the last wednesday in august .

marilla , that is romantic , even in prose .

there 's to be nobody there except mrs irving and paul and gilbert and diana and i , and miss lavendar 's cousins .

and they will leave on the six o'clock train for a trip to the pacific coast .

when they come back in the fall paul and charlotta the fourth are to go up to boston to live with them .

i 'm so glad .

there was more romance in the world than that which had fallen to the share of the middle-aged lovers of the stone house .

anne stumbled suddenly on it one evening when she went over to orchard slope by the wood cut and came out into the barry garden .

diana barry and fred wright were standing together under the big willow .

diana was leaning against the gray trunk , her lashes cast down on very crimson cheeks .

one hand was held by fred , who stood with his face bent toward her , stammering something in low earnest tones .

" diana and fred are in love with each other , " she gasped .

" oh , it does seem so . ..y ..y so . ..y ..y so hopelessly grown up . "

anne , of late , had not been without her suspicions that diana was proving false to the melancholy byronic hero of her early dreams .

" things are changing so fast it almost frightens me , " anne thought , a little sadly .

" and i 'm afraid that this can't help making some difference between diana and me .

i 'm sure i can't tell her all my secrets after this . ..y ..y she might tell fred .

and what can she see in fred ?

he 's very nice and jolly . ..y ..y but he 's just fred wright . "

it is always a very puzzling question . ..y ..y what can somebody see in somebody else ?

it was plain that diana did see something in fred wright , however anne 's eyes might be holden .

both girls cried and kissed and laughed .

" i 'm so happy , " said diana , " but it does seem ridiculous to think of me being engaged . "

" what is it really like to be engaged ? " asked anne curiously .

" there 's not much comfort for the rest of us in that , seeing that there is only one fred , " laughed anne .

" oh , anne , you don't understand , " said diana in vexation .

" i didn't mean that . ..y ..y it 's so hard to explain .

never mind , you 'll understand sometime , when your own turn comes . "

" bless you , dearest of dianas , i understand now .

what is an imagination for if not to enable you to peep at life through other people 's eyes ? "

" you must be my bridesmaid , you know , anne .

promise me that . ..y ..y wherever you may be when i 'm married . "

" i 'll come from the ends of the earth if necessary , " promised anne solemnly .

" of course , it won't be for ever so long yet , " said diana , blushing .

but three years isn't any too much time to get ready for housekeeping , for i haven't a speck of fancy work made yet .

but i 'm going to begin crocheting doilies tomorrow .

myra gillis had thirty-seven doilies when she was married and i 'm determined i shall have as many as she had . "

diana looked hurt .

" i didn't think you 'd make fun of me , anne , " she said reproachfully .

" dearest , i wasn't making fun of you , " cried anne repentantly .

" i was only teasing you a bit .

i think you 'll make the sweetest little housekeeper in the world .

and i think it 's perfectly lovely of you to be planning already for your home o'dreams . "

but somehow i wouldn't want fred to be tall and slender . ..y ..y because , don't you see , he wouldn't be fred then .

of course , " added diana rather dolefully , " we will be a dreadfully pudgy couple .

mrs lynde says it always makes her think of the long and short of it when she sees them together . "

but when my turn comes . ..y ..y if it ever does . . .

i do hope there 'll be something a little more thrilling about it .

but then diana thought so too , once .

but she has changed .

perhaps i 'll change too .

but i won't . ..y ..y and i 'm determined i won't .

oh , i think these engagements are dreadfully unsettling things when they happen to your intimate friends . "

xxx

a wedding at the stone house

the last week in august came .

miss lavendar was to be married in it .

two weeks later anne and gilbert would leave for redmond college .

she had sold all her superfluous household plenishings by auction and was at present reveling in the congenial occupation of helping the allans pack up .

mr allan was to preach his farewell sermon the next sunday .

" changes ain't totally pleasant but they 're excellent things , " said mr harrison philosophically .

" two years is about long enough for things to stay exactly the same .

if they stayed put any longer they might grow mossy . "

mr harrison was smoking on his veranda .

his wife had self-sacrificingly told that he might smoke in the house if he took care to sit by an open window .

mr harrison rewarded this concession by going outdoors altogether to smoke in fine weather , and so mutual goodwill reigned .

anne had come over to ask mrs harrison for some of her yellow dahlias .

miss lavendar herself never had dahlias ; she did not like them and they would not have suited the fine retirement of her old-fashioned garden .

" i s'pose you 'll be starting off for college in a fortnight 's time ? " continued mr harrison .

" well , we 're going to miss you an awful lot , emily and me .

to be sure , mrs lynde 'll be over there in your place .

there ain't nobody but a substitute can be found for them . "

the irony of mr harrison 's tone is quite untransferable to paper .

" yes , i 'm going , " said anne .

" i 'm very glad with my head . . . and very sorry with my heart . "

" i s'pose you 'll be scooping up all the honors that are lying round loose at redmond . "

i want to learn to understand and help other people and myself . "

mr harrison nodded .

" that 's the idea exactly .

you 're all right .

college won't be able to do you much harm , i reckon . "

they found the stone house agog with excitement .

like the helmet of navarre , charlotta 's blue bows waved ever in the thickest of the fray .

and miss lavendar ain't to be trusted to do a thing .

i was thankful when mr irving came a few minutes ago and took her off for a walk in the woods .

that 's my opinion , miss shirley , ma'am . "

anne and diana worked so heartily that by ten o'clock even charlotta the fourth was satisfied .

she braided her hair in innumerable plaits and took her weary little bones off to bed .

" he isn't in the habit of having strokes , is he ? " asked diana , the dimpled corners of her mouth twitching .

to diana , charlotta the fourth was , if not exactly a thing of beauty , certainly a joy forever .

" they 're not things that go by habit , " said charlotta the fourth with dignity .

" they just happen . ..y ..y and there you are .

anybody can have a stroke .

you don't have to learn how .

mr irving looks a lot like an uncle of mine that had one once just as he was sitting down to dinner one day .

but maybe everything 'll go all right .

in this world you 've just got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and take whatever god sends . "

" the only thing i 'm worried about is that it won't be fine tomorrow , " said diana .

anne , who knew better than diana just how much uncle abe had to do with the storm , was not much disturbed by this .

she slept the sleep of the just and weary , and was roused at an unearthly hour by charlotta the fourth .

anne flew to the window , hoping against hope that charlotta the fourth was saying this merely by way of rousing her effectually .

but alas , the morning did look unpropitious .

" isn't it too mean ! " said diana .

" we must hope for the best , " said anne determinedly .

" if it only doesn't actually rain , a cool , pearly gray day like this would really be nicer than hot sunshine . "

" it 'll hold off till the last minute and then pour cats and dogs .

i knew things were going too well to last . "

charlotta the fourth seemed certainly to have borrowed a leaf out of miss eliza andrews ' book .

it did not rain , though it kept on looking as if it meant to .

by noon the rooms were decorated , the table beautifully laid ; and upstairs was waiting a bride , " adorned for her husband . "

" you do look sweet , " said anne rapturously .

" lovely , " echoed diana .

the two upper bows rather gave the impression of overgrown wings sprouting from charlotta 's neck , somewhat after the fashion of raphael 's cherubs .

" oh , i 'll never be able to look like miss shirley , " thought poor charlotta despairingly .

there was no formality about the marriage .

they went out to the honeysuckle arbor , where mr allan was awaiting them .

the guests grouped themselves as they pleased .

mr allan opened his blue book and the ceremony proceeded .

just as miss lavendar and stephen irving were pronounced man and wife a very beautiful and symbolic thing happened .

the sun suddenly burst through the gray and poured a flood of radiance on the happy bride .

instantly the garden was alive with dancing shadows and flickering lights .

" what a lovely omen , " thought anne , as she ran to kiss the bride .

at half past two mr. and mrs irving left , and everybody went to bright river to see them off on the afternoon train .

as miss lavendar . . .

but it was reserved for paul to give the prettiest send-off .

he popped out of the porch ringing furiously a huge old brass dinner bell which had adorned the dining room mantel .

two hours later anne and charlotta the fourth came down the lane again .

gilbert had gone to west grafton on an errand and diana had to keep an engagement at home .

anne and charlotta had come back to put things in order and lock up the little stone house .

" a wedding ain't much cheerfuller than a funeral after all , when it 's all over , miss shirley , ma'am . "

a busy evening followed .

" what are you thinking of , anne ? " asked gilbert , coming down the walk .

he had left his horse and buggy out at the road .

" of miss lavendar and mr irving , " answered anne dreamily .

four years of earnest , happy work . ..y ..y and then the guerdon of a useful knowledge gained and a sweet heart won .

behind them in the garden the little stone house brooded among the shadows .

it was lonely but not forsaken .

and over the river in purple durance the echoes bided their time .

[ note :

the correct words were obtained from the l.c. page & company , inc edition of this book copyright @number@ - thirteenth impression , @date@ .

italic emphases have been capitalized for emphasis , other italics , such as titles have been ' placed in single quotes . '

italic i's are i .

most spellings and combined words have been left as they were in the majority of the editions originally published .

some spelling errors we presume were not intended have been corrected . ]

end of the project gutenberg ebook of anne of avonlea , by lucy maud montgomery