“Walked, dearest of Marillas. Haven’t I done it a score of times in the Queen’s
days? The mailman is to bring my trunk tomorrow; I just got homesick all at
once, and came a day earlier. And oh! I’ve had such a lovely walk in the May
twilight; I stopped by the barrens and picked these Mayflowers; I came through
Violet-Vale; it’s just a big bowlful of violets now—the dear, sky-tinted things.
Smell them, Marilla—drink them in.”
Marilla sniffed obligingly, but she was more interested in Anne than in
drinking violets.
“Sit down, child. You must be real tired. I’m going to get you some supper.”
“There’s a darling moonrise behind the hills tonight, Marilla, and oh, how the
frogs sang me home from Carmody! I do love the music of the frogs. It seems
bound up with all my happiest recollections of old spring evenings. And it
always reminds me of the night I came here first. Do you remember it, Marilla?”
“Well, yes,” said Marilla with emphasis. “I’m not likely to forget it ever.”
“They used to sing so madly in the marsh and brook that year. I would listen
to them at my window in the dusk, and wonder how they could seem so glad and
so sad at the same time. Oh, but it’s good to be home again! Redmond was
splendid and Bolingbroke delightful—but Green Gables is HOME.”
“Gilbert isn’t coming home this summer, I hear,” said Marilla.
“No.” Something in Anne’s tone made Marilla glance at her sharply, but Anne
was apparently absorbed in arranging her violets in a bowl. “See, aren’t they
sweet?” she went on hurriedly. “The year is a book, isn’t it, Marilla? Spring’s
pages are written in Mayflowers and violets, summer’s in roses, autumn’s in red
maple leaves, and winter in holly and evergreen.”
“Did Gilbert do well in his examinations?” persisted Marilla.
“Excellently well. He led his class. But where are the twins and Mrs. Lynde?”
“Rachel and Dora are over at Mr. Harrison’s. Davy is down at Boulters’. I
think I hear him coming now.”
Davy burst in, saw Anne, stopped, and then hurled himself upon her with a
joyful yell.
“Oh, Anne, ain’t I glad to see you! Say, Anne, I’ve grown two inches since
last fall. Mrs. Lynde measured me with her tape today, and say, Anne, see my
front tooth. It’s gone. Mrs. Lynde tied one end of a string to it and the other end
to the door, and then shut the door. I sold it to Milty for two cents. Milty’s
collecting teeth.”
“What in the world does he want teeth for?” asked Marilla.