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    Rainbow Valley
    Rainbow Valley
    Rainbow Valley
    Ebook297 pages3 hours

    Rainbow Valley

    By Lucy Maud Montgomery

    4/5

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    "After a trip to London, Anne Blythe learns that a new minister, John Meredith, has arrived in Glen St. Mary. Soon, Anne’s six children become friends with the four Meredith children who, having recently lost their mother, have a reputation for running wild. The children all meet and play in a hollow called “Rainbow Valley,” where they begin to concoct plans for protecting their orphaned friend Mary and finding a wife for the widowed minister.

    The seventh of nine books in the Anne Shirley series, Rainbow Valley was published in 1919 and was the fifth book to feature the beloved protagonist from Anne of Green Gables."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media
    Release dateAug 14, 2018
    ISBN9781974997336
    Author

    Lucy Maud Montgomery

    L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery (1874-1942) was a Canadian author who published 20 novels and hundreds of short stories, poems, and essays. She is best known for the Anne of Green Gables series. Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London) on Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Raised by her maternal grandparents, she grew up in relative isolation and loneliness, developing her creativity with imaginary friends and dreaming of becoming a published writer. Her first book, Anne of Green Gables, was published in 1908 and was an immediate success, establishing Montgomery's career as a writer, which she continued for the remainder of her life.

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    Reviews for Rainbow Valley

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    1,246 ratings31 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This has always been my least favourite book in the Anne series. I think it is because much of the book is told through the letters Anne writes to Gilbert, and I soon lost interest in them. I also think Gilbert should have had a stronger voice. More letters from him to Anne would have been beneficial.I also wasn't keen on the new characters introduced in this book. There were too many of them, and I felt most didn't have a significant role to play. Overall, I found "Anne of Windy Willows" a disappointing read, but I am still keen to continue the series. I do like Anne the more she matures.
    • 3/5
      This wasn't my favorite book in the series. I wasn't a huge fan of the letters.
    • 4/5
      Anne of Windy Poplars, the fourth book in the Anne of Green Gables series tells the story of Ann's adventures as a teacher in Summerside during the three years prior to her marriage to Gilbert Blythe. I liked this book better than some of the other installments, but missed hearing about the familiar characters of Prince Edward Island, since this book mostly takes place away from Anne's home. As always, L.M. Montgomery has populated her book with memorable and interesting characters -- and the stories are so realistic they seem true to life. The is just another book in a wonderful series.
    • 5/5
      My memory of Anne of Windy Poplars is.. non-existent. It's been so long since I've read the books and I see the PBS movies (which are wonderful in their own right) once or twice throughout the year, so it's easy to forget that Anne of Avonlea (the movie edition) is a mix-match of several books in the series.In Anne of Windy Poplars the dreaded Pringles make their appearance. And it's oh so much more than the movie shows. They are so dreadful, each and every one of them, but everything else is an absolute delight. Windy Poplars, Rebecca Dew, Little Elizabeth and most of all - a character we rarely get to see in the book, Gilbert Blythe.Wait, how can Gilbert be so wonderful? He's hardly in the book! I'll tell you why - because this book shows the reader just how beautiful love letters can be.A good portion of Anne of Windy Poplars is composed of Anne's letters to "her dearest of dears" and they are so tender and sweet and filled with so much news and juicy tidbits and sweetness (with just the right amount of "pages omitted") that it set the romantic in me a-fluttering. Anne is learning how to be in love, something we see all too rarely in girls literature today. She has to be patient, to wait to make a life with the one her heart has chosen, but she does it so sweetly it's impossible not to feel the excitement. Romance doesn't need to be rushed. One doesn't need to spend all of ones time before the wedding crushed up against his or her chosen. Anne learns that absence sweetens the deal and her dreams grow because of it. And, in the process, sets aside a beautiful history to share with her own children.Today we write emails and tweet to one another and love letters such as those in this book are a thing of the past. But they don't have to be - and if you need inspiration, pick up this book.
    • 5/5
      Unlike some of the other books in the "Anne" series, this one doesn't have a lot of plot line. Anne is spending her years of engagement teaching and serving as principal of a private high school. This book is a combination of letters to Gilbert and various narratives of funny and touching things that happen to Anne during those three years - many of Ms. Montgomery's short stories find themselves woven into the narrative. I especially liked the story of Little Elizabeth - she reminded me a bit of Paul from "Anne of Avonlea" and I would have liked to hear more about Elizabeth. And I loved Rebecca Dew! While there isn't a major plot turn or climax at the end, this book is a lot like life - a series of small adventures and happenings that color the everyday thread of a contented life.
    • 2/5
      This is the boring-est of the books, probably because it has so little actual romance and is mostly just letters.:D
    • 2/5
      This is my least favorite of all the series, I think. It took me 3 tries before I could even finish it for the first time!! :( It is informative from a literary standpoint to watch how Montgomery unfolds the story through letters --from Anne, so they are from her perspective, which is completely new to the series-- through the entire first 2/3 of the book! But it can get a little boring, and I almost always get bogged down.
    • 4/5
      While Gilbert attends medical school, Anne spends the three years of their engagement as the principal of the high school in Summerside. As she works against the prejudices of the locally influential family of the Pringles, she finds kindred spirits aplenty and gets into the kinds of scrapes only Anne can manage.Not my favourite entry in the series thus far but I still thoroughly enjoyed these more episodic tales of Anne's adventures. I did love the more epistolary style of this novel as about half of it are excerpts of Anne's letters to Gilbert. I'd complain that there isn't enough Gilbert in this novel but I have a feeling I'll get plenty of him in the next book.
    • 3/5
      It seems that the books (with the exception of Rilla of Ingleside) weaken as the series goes on, and this one is definitely weaker than its three predecessors. It seems like a collection of short stories, each with a problem to be solved and with Anne solving the problem rather quickly. Also, the sometimes-epistolary style, with Anne becoming the first-person narrator, tends for some reason to distance us from Anne, perhaps because it lacks the wryness of Montgomery's third-person narration. Also, unlike the previous three novels, Anne shows little growth in Windy Poplars, where she displays a great deal of "busy-bodiness" in other people's lives, is aware of it, but does little to improve on this habit.
    • 4/5
      4th in the series, and not always included in anthologies. In this one, most of Anne's writing is in the form of letters to her fiance, Gilbert, as she describes her three years as a teacher/principal in Summerside PEI, and the townfolk.
    • 4/5
      This book was not as tedious as I thought it would be, and I zipped along pretty quickly. All of Anne's "adventures" are starting to run together. How many cranky old ladies has she won over with her charm now? 30? 40? I believe she's going to get married in the next book so we'll see if that changes things up a bit.
    • 5/5
      Things move on apace in Anne's world and this installment of the series finds her as headmistress of a high school and living in a house called Windy Poplars. This book deals more with Anne's relationship to Gilbert and her impending marriage and is written in epistolary form.A slight departure from the previous books it focuses solely on Anne's experience from a first person point of view.It's not my favourite, but it deserves full marks. And the next novel picks things up again properly.
    • 3/5
      This book really disappointed me in comparison to the earlier Anne books. Montgomery tries a new epistolary style in this book, writing most of the chapters as letters from Anne to Gilbert. There is never any reply, lending the stories a dull, one-sided feel, and the passages are occasionally interrupted by authorial comments like "(two pages omitted here)" where Anne is ostensibly writing her private romantic thoughts to her beloved. The letters just don't work as a narrative device, being especially annoying to the modern reader in their use of quotation marks at the beginning of every paragraph, with additional internal quotation marks for actual dialogue, and Montgomery further disrupts her attempts at a new literary technique by reverting to the omniscient narrator perspective for several chapters. Anne seems to meet someone brand new in almost every chapter, but doesn't form very deep attachments with that many people, and the reader is given little to no hint of her having any meaningful communication with old characters during her visits home. Montgomery misses the opportunity to derive a meaningful narrative thread from the three years during which Anne must work and wait before marrying Gilbert, thus lending the unfortunate impression that Anne is just another grown woman with nothing to do but sit around and wait to be married. It feels as if Montgomery ended her previous novel in what she felt was the most romantic possible fashion, and then didn't know how to deal with the separation she had imposed on her main characters. Perhaps this book was a literary experiment of sorts. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
    • 4/5
      Like all the other Anne books: nothing momentous happens; no incredible characters appear; Anne is not saintly, nor is she a rapscallion. But there is something comfortable in reading a simple tale of a time very unlike our own.In this book, Anne is appointed "principle" of a school for a three-year contract. At the end of three years, it is to be assumed she will marry her "Gilbert."
    • 5/5
      When I read this at first as a young teen, I didn't like it. I would skip it when I re-read the series. After I re-read the whole series (without skipping this one) about five years ago, though, I began to wonder exactly why I hadn't liked it. The novel provides interesting pictures into the lives of others as Anne comes into contact with them. The epistolary portions are also pleasant as they really feel as if they were written by Anne herself and as such, I felt more bonded to her than I had before. There are such rich "side-"characters in this that I would rank it among my favorites. It is sweet and poignant, and showcases the epistolary style that I don't think Montgomery used nearly enough.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorites in Montgomery's body of work, and in particular in this series. This novel is also published as "Anne of Windy Willows" in the UK. It was one of the last ones of the series written, but the fourth one in the series chronologically. It's easy to tell it was written later in her writing career because the voice and writing quality are much more polished. The plotting is tighter, and it has to be to get Anne through this difficult period. This is the time of life that, in the era this takes place, is very difficult for women. It's after graduation from college, working, but before marriage. Considering most women didn't attend college in Anne's day, and that it was highly controversial for them to do so, I'm not at all surprised that Montgomery left this chapter of Anne's life until later to write. She pulled it off with grace, finesse, and a good dose of humor.
    • 4/5
      Not my favourite of the novels -- and honestly, I would have liked a lot more of Gilbert in it. But it's Anne! So all is well.
    • 4/5
      First published in 1936, L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Windy Poplars was originally styled Anne of Windy Willows, a name that Montgomery herself changed, at the request of her American publishers, who felt that it bore too close a resemblance to Kenneth Grahame's classic animal fantasy, The Wind in the Willows. Montgomery's English publishers, oddly enough, had no such worry, and thinking that their readers would be unfamiliar with poplars, retained the original title. So it is that American and Canadian readers know the book as Anne of Windy Poplars, and British, Australian and New Zealand readers as Anne of Windy Willows. I understand that there were also some scenes that were cut by Montgomery, once again at the behest of her American publishers, that were retained in Anne of Windy Willows, and hope to track down a copy of that other version of the story, at some point, and acquaint myself with the differences.However that may be, it is Anne of Windy Poplars that I have just reread (for the umpteenth time), a book that is currently considered the fourth entry in the "Anne" series, although it was written and published seventh. Chronicling the three years between the events of Anne of the Island (1915), which sees Anne attending Redmond College, and Anne's House of Dreams (1917), in which Anne Shirley becomes Anne Blythe, and embarks upon the first years of married life, it is the tale of Anne's days as the Principal of Summerside High School, and her time as a boarder at Windy Poplars, the home of those two endearingly quirky widows, Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty.Alternating between the epistolary form, in which events unfold in Anne's letters to Gilbert (away at medical school), and third person narration, it feels rather episodic, when compared to some of Anne's other books, but is still immensely appealing - full of entertaining characters and incident, as well as a most engaging heroine. I loved Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty's method of dealing with their sometimes recalcitrant (but always goodhearted) maid, Rebecca Dew (reverse psychology with a vengeance!); I loved Anne's battles with, and eventual conquest of the proud Pringle clan (cannibalism - the horror!); and, having a fondness for difficult people, I loved Anne's evolving relationship with the prickly Katherine Brooke. In short, I loved Anne of Windy Poplars (as I always do), and although there were certain elements I found less than thrilling (I could have lived without the entire Hazel Marr episode), my overall pleasure more than compensated. Highly recommended to any reader who has read the first three Anne books, and wants to continue the journey!
    • 5/5
      Anne spends 3 years as the Principal of Summerside and we learn of all the goings-on in her life through the letters she writes to her fiance, Gilbert.As I've discovered, all things "Anne" really do work out for the best and no situation - regardless of how bad it seems at first, will eventually work out. To that end, I find myself questioning why I continue to read these books. Why do I find them so entertaining? They are so "polyanna" that there is little in the way of true drama because everything does come up roses.The only answer I have is that I have grown quite fond of the character. She is a dreamer, a believer of fantasy and imagination, and someone who always looks to the positives of life. These are all things that are quite dear to me as well. On top of that, I have to admit that we are introduced to a large array of characters each with their own little quirks that makes them "real" and interesting to read.I've often remarked that reading these "Anne" books was like catching up with an old friend. The format of this particular novel is very much like that. A comforting read.
    • 5/5
      Montgomery always amazes me by how life like her characters are, her descriptions of them and Anne's opinion of them always makes me feel like I am meeting a new person. Also the characters could stand on their own, without having the main character. In this book we find Anne fighting to be accepted as a school principal/teacher in a small town that is full of Pringles and half Pringles. Through her challenges we meet a whole new cast of characters. My favorite new character that we meet in this book is Katherine Brooke. Montgomery shows through her character of Katherine that you can never tell why people are the way they are without digging deeper and really trying hard to get to know them. Sometimes those with the prickliest skin, tend to have the softest heart and/or have been truly hurt and neglected. I like how through Anne, Montgomery encourages her readers to get out and meet new people, and that you can never really tell about a person until you talk with them.
    • 4/5
      While Gilbert finishes medical school, Anne is invited to be the principal of a high school in Summerside. She faces one seemingly insurmountable problem immediately: the Pringles, a venerable and large family. The Pringles have influence over all that happens in the town, and they are upset because Anne was not their first choice; a cousin of theirs was. But she has allies in the kindly widows who allow her to board, Aunt Chatty and Aunt Kate, along with Rebecca Dew, the housekeeper. What follows is a series of vignettes about Anne's dealings with the school and the people of the town, but a common thread goes throughout: her fate is largely determined by the Pringles, and Anne is just as determined to win them over. Part of "Anne of Windy Poplars" consists of Anne's letters to Gilbert, and the author judiciously omits the more sentimental passages of the letters. This book was written seventh in the series of eight books, so it definitely seems to lose a little continuity, and might rightly be considered a companion piece rather than book five of the series. And it is probably not Ms. Montgomery's best work in the Anne of Green Gables series, though it may fit in better with her other lesser-known collections of short stories. It seems to drag in parts, and I kept wanting to skip through to the "good" sections. However, I faithfully read through it and was glad to be done and on to the next book, "Anne's House of Dreams", that has better "flow".
    • 4/5
      the next saga of Anne's life. She's moved into a home by the name of Windy Poplars on Spook's Lane with two old widows and a helper. She's a principal at the high school while Gilbert is away at medical school and they write letters to each other and pine away. Montgomery introduces us to another set of interesting characters - it's such good fun.
    • 3/5
      I become frustrated by the over-fanciful language and the reliance on episodic "vignettes" that are often too sweet or too pat. But then comes a moment of pure magic - a sudden jewel of a line. And some of the characterisations become more than clever pen portraits, becoming real and believable. It is also a wonderful reminder on the importance of gratitude in life.
    • 4/5
      Anne of Windy Poplars was a delight to read. The book is comprised of letters written by Anne and third-person narrative. As with the other Anne books, we meet some wonderful new characters and become reaquainted with old ones. There is a hilarious dinner scene which definately made me laugh out loud in public.
    • 4/5
      Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth book in the Anne series, and this one is told in epistolary style as Anne has become the principal of Summerside High School and is writing letters to her finance Gilbert while he is in medical school. This book covers the three years that the two have to wait until Gilbert becomes a doctor and they are able to marry. Windy Poplars is the home that Annie is boarding in. Owned by two widows and run by a salt-of-the-earth housekeeper, Anne arrives like a breath of spring air. Along with these women, Anne makes other friends in and around Summerside and is able in her own winning way to bring happiness and change into many lives. This book comes to an end as Anne returns home to Green Gables knowing in a very short while she will finally become Mrs. Gilbert Blyth.I was a little disappointed with Anne of Windy Poplars as much of the story felt repetitious and Anne seemed a little too perfect. I missed the Anne that often make mistakes and learned life lessons from her errors. I found the author seemed more moralistic and a little preach-y in this volume. I also missed the great descriptive writing about the passing of the seasons that I have enjoyed in the previous three volumes. I note that this book is often the one missing from boxed sets of the Anne of Green Gables series, and I also know that although it is the fourth book in chronological order, it was actually the seventh one to be published.
    • 5/5
      It’s easy to see why this series has staying power, even in today’s high-tech world. The characters are rich in their development and the plot remains interesting and entertaining. There is an ample amount of humor as well as some heart-wrenching moments. This audio version was especially delightful.
    • 3/5
      Anne Shirley has graduated from college and has signed on as Principal of a school in Summerside, across the island from her beloved Green Gables. Once again she needs to make friends, and convert the potential enemies of the town who begrudge this young woman her responsible position.

      I love Anne – who wouldn’t, she’s so optimistic, kind and straightforward. I was pleased to see that the book opens as a letter from Anne to Gilbert, and I was looking forward to an epistolary novel. However, Montgomery interspersed several chapters written in third-person narrative. I understand that what she described in those sections would be difficult to convey in a letter format, but I felt that the switching back and forth in style detracted from the book.

      I think I may have reached my limit with this series. Book four felt repetitive and formulaic to me, as if I were marking time along with Anne until she reunites with Gilbert and her life story really moves forward. I can’t bring myself to rate it lower than 3 stars, however, because I like the character so much, and I did enjoy her efforts at matchmaking.
    • 4/5
      Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth installment of the Anne of Green Gables series. It is mostly set in a city called Summerside. Anne has left Redmond College to begin a job as principal of Summerside High School. She ends up staying in a place called “Windy Poplars” with two widows and an old maid. Throughout the story Anne has to face winning the affections of the Pringle family, solving marital problems between her friends, and helping a little girl named Elizabeth find laughter in the world.As with the rest of the series, this book is a thrilling read, with sorrows and triumphs. I feel that this book is missing something that the others have (it is probably the absence of Gilbert, who rarely shows up in this book), but it is fun and exciting all the same. I would recommend this book to all fans of Anne of Green Gables, as well as to those who are simply looking for laughter and magic in their life.
    • 5/5
      In Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne and Gilbert are now engaged (finally!) and Anne accepts a principalship at a prestigious girls' school while Gilbert is finishing his medical degree. Summerside High is an old school, in an old, proud town full of Pringles. The Pringle clan runs everything in Kingsport, and when they decide they don't like Anne because she beat out a cousin of theirs for the position, they embark on a campaign of subtle persecution which Anne's sensitive spirit feels keenly. Things come to such a pass that Anne is afraid she will lose her position, for how can she reason with prejudice? With each new novel, Montgomery introduces new and delightful characters to add spice to the story and keep things from getting flat. The widows with whom Anne lodges, Aunt Chatty and Aunt Kate, and their servant Rebecca Dew are fun each in her own way. The buttermilk secret always makes me laugh. And I do love Katherine Brooke. She is decidedly different from Anne's other friends; the only comparable character in the series would probably be Nora Nelson... though there are hints of Leslie Ford as well, come to think of it. One new character I'm not a big fan of is Elizabeth. She just seems too precocious and perfect to me. I think Montgomery wrote Elizabeth as a facet of herself; during her childhood she lived with her strict grandparents and her experiences with them might have been similar. Interestingly, Elizabeth's grandmother and servant do not soften or change by the end of the story. Elizabeth escapes, but the prison itself does not disappear. Another thing I enjoy about this story is its epistolary nature. The only complaint I would make is that it would be nice to see some of Gilbert's letters to Anne. But I suppose they wouldn't be half so interesting or funny! Although this isn't the first book I think of when I try to name my favorites among the series, it has so many brilliant little stories... Anne's day with the onerous invalid Mrs. Gibson, the disastrous dinner with sulky Cyrus Taylor, the affair of the play, Rebecca Dew's flowery but sincere goodbye note, Cousin Ernestine Bugle's dolorously hilarious visit, etc. This book is a joy to read and I'm so thankful that the Anne stories — wholesome, hilarious, wonderful — influenced me so much in my teen years. I think Anne makes me a better person.
    • 5/5
      Although Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth book chronologically in the Anne of Green Gables series, it was actually the seventh book L.M. Montgomery wrote for the series. Anne of Windy Poplars is an epistolary novel, telling the story of the years between the time Anne Shirley graduated from college and the time she finally marries Gilbert Blythe. During this time Anne is living at Windy Poplars with two elderly widows, and working as the principal of Summerside High School. The letters that make up the bulk of the novel are from Anne to her fiancé.Anne of Windy Poplars almost surpasses Anne of Green Gables for me. Through Anne's writing, Montgomery really has a chance to illustrate just what a special young woman Anne is. She is a delightful character to read, intelligent and witty with real gumption. Even in the face of overwhelming negativity Anne refuses to back down. She is determined to persevere against all odds, and in the end manages to change every life she touches. This is Anne as I will always think of her - a spirited woman whose heart bursts with love and poetry.As always, Montgomery seems to cast an even more eccentric set of characters in Anne of Windy Poplars. She has such a way with creating characters that seem to leap off the page. From Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty at Windy Poplars, to characters like Jen Pringle (and the whole Pringle clan,) Katherine Brooke, Pauline Gibson, and Cousin Ernestine - Montgomery has taken great care to invent highly readable and believable people to live in Anne's world. These are people full of faults but with a great capacity for growth - they just need a little Anne Shirley in their lives!Anne of Windy Poplars enhances Anne's story beautifully. By using her charming letters to Gilbert, the reader gets to see things through Anne's own eyes. Anne is a gifted writer, as is L.M. Montgomery, obviously. This series of books offers the reader a lyrical look into the life of one of literature's most entertaining heroines. I highly recommend reading it straight through!

    Book preview

    Rainbow Valley - Lucy Maud Montgomery

    CHAPTER I.

    HOME AGAIN

    It was a clear, apple-green evening in May, and Four Winds Harbour was mirroring back the clouds of the golden west between its softly dark shores. The sea moaned eerily on the sand-bar, sorrowful even in spring, but a sly, jovial wind came piping down the red harbour road along which Miss Cornelia’s comfortable, matronly figure was making its way towards the village of Glen St. Mary. Miss Cornelia was rightfully Mrs. Marshall Elliott, and had been Mrs. Marshall Elliott for thirteen years, but even yet more people referred to her as Miss Cornelia than as Mrs. Elliott. The old name was dear to her old friends, only one of them contemptuously dropped it. Susan Baker, the gray and grim and faithful handmaiden of the Blythe family at Ingleside, never lost an opportunity of calling her Mrs. Marshall Elliott, with the most killing and pointed emphasis, as if to say You wanted to be Mrs. and Mrs. you shall be with a vengeance as far as I am concerned.

    Miss Cornelia was going up to Ingleside to see Dr. and Mrs. Blythe, who were just home from Europe. They had been away for three months, having left in February to attend a famous medical congress in London; and certain things, which Miss Cornelia was anxious to discuss, had taken place in the Glen during their absence. For one thing, there was a new family in the manse. And such a family! Miss Cornelia shook her head over them several times as she walked briskly along.

    Susan Baker and the Anne Shirley of other days saw her coming, as they sat on the big veranda at Ingleside, enjoying the charm of the cat’s light, the sweetness of sleepy robins whistling among the twilit maples, and the dance of a gusty group of daffodils blowing against the old, mellow, red brick wall of the lawn.

    Anne was sitting on the steps, her hands clasped over her knee, looking, in the kind dusk, as girlish as a mother of many has any right to be; and the beautiful gray-green eyes, gazing down the harbour road, were as full of unquenchable sparkle and dream as ever. Behind her, in the hammock, Rilla Blythe was curled up, a fat, roly-poly little creature of six years, the youngest of the Ingleside children. She had curly red hair and hazel eyes that were now buttoned up after the funny, wrinkled fashion in which Rilla always went to sleep.

    Shirley, the little brown boy, as he was known in the family Who’s Who, was asleep in Susan’s arms. He was brown-haired, brown-eyed and brown-skinned, with very rosy cheeks, and he was Susan’s especial love. After his birth Anne had been very ill for a long time, and Susan mothered the baby with a passionate tenderness which none of the other children, dear as they were to her, had ever called out. Dr. Blythe had said that but for her he would never have lived.

    I gave him life just as much as you did, Mrs. Dr. dear, Susan was wont to say. He is just as much my baby as he is yours. And, indeed, it was always to Susan that Shirley ran, to be kissed for bumps, and rocked to sleep, and protected from well-deserved spankings. Susan had conscientiously spanked all the other Blythe children when she thought they needed it for their souls’ good, but she would not spank Shirley nor allow his mother to do it. Once, Dr. Blythe had spanked him and Susan had been stormily indignant.

    That man would spank an angel, Mrs. Dr. dear, that he would, she had declared bitterly; and she would not make the poor doctor a pie for weeks.

    She had taken Shirley with her to her brother’s home during his parents’ absence, while all the other children had gone to Avonlea, and she had three blessed months of him all to herself. Nevertheless, Susan was very glad to find herself back at Ingleside, with all her darlings around her again. Ingleside was her world and in it she reigned supreme. Even Anne seldom questioned her decisions, much to the disgust of Mrs. Rachel Lynde of Green Gables, who gloomily told Anne, whenever she visited Four Winds, that she was letting Susan get to be entirely too much of a boss and would live to rue it.

    Here is Cornelia Bryant coming up the harbour road, Mrs. Dr. dear, said Susan. She will be coming up to unload three months’ gossip on us.

    I hope so, said Anne, hugging her knees. I’m starving for Glen St. Mary gossip, Susan. I hope Miss Cornelia can tell me everything that has happened while we’ve been away—EVERYTHING—who has got born, or married, or drunk; who has died, or gone away, or come, or fought, or lost a cow, or found a beau. It’s so delightful to be home again with all the dear Glen folks, and I want to know all about them. Why, I remember wondering, as I walked through Westminster Abbey which of her two especial beaux Millicent Drew would finally marry. Do you know, Susan, I have a dreadful suspicion that I love gossip.

    Well, of course, Mrs. Dr. dear, admitted Susan, every proper woman likes to hear the news. I am rather interested in Millicent Drew’s case myself. I never had a beau, much less two, and I do not mind now, for being an old maid does not hurt when you get used to it. Millicent’s hair always looks to me as if she had swept it up with a broom. But the men do not seem to mind that.

    They see only her pretty, piquant, mocking, little face, Susan.

    That may very well be, Mrs. Dr. dear. The Good Book says that favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but I should not have minded finding that out for myself, if it had been so ordained. I have no doubt we will all be beautiful when we are angels, but what good will it do us then? Speaking of gossip, however, they do say that poor Mrs. Harrison Miller over harbour tried to hang herself last week.

    Oh, Susan!

    Calm yourself, Mrs. Dr. dear. She did not succeed. But I really do not blame her for trying, for her husband is a terrible man. But she was very foolish to think of hanging herself and leaving the way clear for him to marry some other woman. If I had been in her shoes, Mrs. Dr. dear, I would have gone to work to worry him so that he would try to hang himself instead of me. Not that I hold with people hanging themselves under any circumstances, Mrs. Dr. dear.

    What is the matter with Harrison Miller, anyway? said Anne impatiently. He is always driving some one to extremes.

    "Well, some people call it religion and some call it cussedness, begging your pardon, Mrs. Dr. dear, for using such a word. It seems they cannot make out which it is in Harrison’s case. There are days when he growls at everybody because he thinks he is fore-ordained to eternal punishment. And then there are days when he says he does not care and goes and gets drunk. My own opinion is that he is not sound in his intellect, for none of that branch of the Millers were. His grandfather went out of his mind. He thought he was surrounded by big black spiders. They crawled over him and floated in the air about him. I hope I shall never go insane, Mrs. Dr. dear, and I do not think I will, because it is not a habit of the Bakers. But, if an all-wise Providence should decree it, I hope it will not take the form of big black spiders, for I loathe the animals. As for Mrs. Miller, I do not know whether she really deserves pity or not. There are some who say she just married Harrison to spite Richard Taylor, which seems to me a very peculiar reason for getting married. But then, of course, I am no judge of things matrimonial, Mrs. Dr. dear. And there is Cornelia Bryant at the gate, so I will put this blessed brown baby on his bed and get my knitting."

    CHAPTER II.

    SHEER GOSSIP

    Where are the other children? asked Miss Cornelia, when the first greetings—cordial on her side, rapturous on Anne’s, and dignified on Susan’s—were over.

    Shirley is in bed and Jem and Walter and the twins are down in their beloved Rainbow Valley, said Anne. They just came home this afternoon, you know, and they could hardly wait until supper was over before rushing down to the valley. They love it above every spot on earth. Even the maple grove doesn’t rival it in their affections.

    I am afraid they love it too well, said Susan gloomily. Little Jem said once he would rather go to Rainbow Valley than to heaven when he died, and that was not a proper remark.

    I suppose they had a great time in Avonlea? said Miss Cornelia.

    Enormous. Marilla does spoil them terribly. Jem, in particular, can do no wrong in her eyes.

    Miss Cuthbert must be an old lady now, said Miss Cornelia, getting out her knitting, so that she could hold her own with Susan. Miss Cornelia held that the woman whose hands were employed always had the advantage over the woman whose hands were not.

    Marilla is eighty-five, said Anne with a sigh. Her hair is snow-white. But, strange to say, her eyesight is better than it was when she was sixty.

    Well, dearie, I’m real glad you’re all back. I’ve been dreadful lonesome. But we haven’t been dull in the Glen, believe ME. There hasn’t been such an exciting spring in my time, as far as church matters go. We’ve got settled with a minister at last, Anne dearie.

    The Reverend John Knox Meredith, Mrs. Dr. dear, said Susan, resolved not to let Miss Cornelia tell all the news.

    Is he nice? asked Anne interestedly.

    Miss Cornelia sighed and Susan groaned.

    Yes, he’s nice enough if that were all, said the former. "He is VERY nice—and very learned—and very spiritual. But, oh Anne dearie, he has no common sense!

    How was it you called him, then?

    Well, there’s no doubt he is by far the best preacher we ever had in Glen St. Mary church, said Miss Cornelia, veering a tack or two. I suppose it is because he is so moony and absent-minded that he never got a town call. His trial sermon was simply wonderful, believe ME. Every one went mad about it—and his looks.

    He is VERY comely, Mrs. Dr. dear, and when all is said and done, I DO like to see a well-looking man in the pulpit, broke in Susan, thinking it was time she asserted herself again.

    Besides, said Miss Cornelia, we were anxious to get settled. And Mr. Meredith was the first candidate we were all agreed on. Somebody had some objection to all the others. There was some talk of calling Mr. Folsom. He was a good preacher, too, but somehow people didn’t care for his appearance. He was too dark and sleek.

    He looked exactly like a great black tomcat, that he did, Mrs. Dr. dear, said Susan. I never could abide such a man in the pulpit every Sunday.

    Then Mr. Rogers came and he was like a chip in porridge—neither harm nor good, resumed Miss Cornelia. But if he had preached like Peter and Paul it would have profited him nothing, for that was the day old Caleb Ramsay’s sheep strayed into church and gave a loud ‘ba-a-a’ just as he announced his text. Everybody laughed, and poor Rogers had no chance after that. Some thought we ought to call Mr. Stewart, because he was so well educated. He could read the New Testament in five languages.

    But I do not think he was any surer than other men of getting to heaven because of that, interjected Susan.

    Most of us didn’t like his delivery, said Miss Cornelia, ignoring Susan. He talked in grunts, so to speak. And Mr. Arnett couldn’t preach AT ALL. And he picked about the worst candidating text there is in the Bible—‘Curse ye Meroz.’

    Whenever he got stuck for an idea, he would bang the Bible and shout very bitterly, ‘Curse ye Meroz.’ Poor Meroz got thoroughly cursed that day, whoever he was, Mrs. Dr. dear, said Susan.

    The minister who is candidating can’t be too careful what text he chooses, said Miss Cornelia solemnly. I believe Mr. Pierson would have got the call if he had picked a different text. But when he announced ‘I will lift my eyes to the hills’ HE was done for. Every one grinned, for every one knew that those two Hill girls from the Harbour Head have been setting their caps for every single minister who came to the Glen for the last fifteen years. And Mr. Newman had too large a family.

    He stayed with my brother-in-law, James Clow, said Susan. ‘How many children have you got?’ I asked him. ‘Nine boys and a sister for each of them,’ he said. ‘Eighteen!’ said I. ‘Dear me, what a family!’ And then he laughed and laughed. But I do not know why, Mrs. Dr. dear, and I am certain that eighteen children would be too many for any manse.

    He had only ten children, Susan, explained Miss Cornelia, with contemptuous patience. And ten good children would not be much worse for the manse and congregation than the four who are there now. Though I wouldn’t say, Anne dearie, that they are so bad, either. I like them—everybody likes them. It’s impossible to help liking them. They would be real nice little souls if there was anyone to look after their manners and teach them what is right and proper. For instance, at school the teacher says they are model children. But at home they simply run wild.

    What about Mrs. Meredith? asked Anne.

    There’s NO Mrs. Meredith. That is just the trouble. Mr. Meredith is a widower. His wife died four years ago. If we had known that I don’t suppose we would have called him, for a widower is even worse in a congregation than a single man. But he was heard to speak of his children and we all supposed there was a mother, too. And when they came there was nobody but old Aunt Martha, as they call her. She’s a cousin of Mr. Meredith’s mother, I believe, and he took her in to save her from the poorhouse. She is seventy-five years old, half blind, and very deaf and very cranky.

    And a very poor cook, Mrs. Dr. dear.

    The worst possible manager for a manse, said Miss Cornelia bitterly. Mr. Meredith won’t get any other housekeeper because he says it would hurt Aunt Martha’s feelings. Anne dearie, believe me, the state of that manse is something terrible. Everything is thick with dust and nothing is ever in its place. And we had painted and papered it all so nice before they came.

    There are four children, you say? asked Anne, beginning to mother them already in her heart.

    Yes. They run up just like the steps of a stair. Gerald’s the oldest. He’s twelve and they call him Jerry. He’s a clever boy. Faith is eleven. She is a regular tomboy but pretty as a picture, I must say.

    She looks like an angel but she is a holy terror for mischief, Mrs. Dr. dear, said Susan solemnly. I was at the manse one night last week and Mrs. James Millison was there, too. She had brought them up a dozen eggs and a little pail of milk—a VERY little pail, Mrs. Dr. dear. Faith took them and whisked down the cellar with them. Near the bottom of the stairs she caught her toe and fell the rest of the way, milk and eggs and all. You can imagine the result, Mrs. Dr. dear. But that child came up laughing. ‘I don’t know whether I’m myself or a custard pie,’ she said. And Mrs. James Millison was very angry. She said she would never take another thing to the manse if it was to be wasted and destroyed in that fashion.

    Maria Millison never hurt herself taking things to the manse, sniffed Miss Cornelia. She just took them that night as an excuse for curiosity. But poor Faith is always getting into scrapes. She is so heedless and impulsive.

    Just like me. I’m going to like your Faith, said Anne decidedly.

    She is full of spunk—and I do like spunk, Mrs. Dr. dear, admitted Susan.

    There’s something taking about her, conceded Miss Cornelia. You never see her but she’s laughing, and somehow it always makes you want to laugh too. She can’t even keep a straight face in church. Una is ten—she’s a sweet little thing—not pretty, but sweet. And Thomas Carlyle is nine. They call him Carl, and he has a regular mania for collecting toads and bugs and frogs and bringing them into the house.

    I suppose he was responsible for the dead rat that was lying on a chair in the parlour the afternoon Mrs. Grant called. It gave her a turn, said Susan, and I do not wonder, for manse parlours are no places for dead rats. To be sure it may have been the cat who left it, there. HE is as full of the old Nick as he can be stuffed, Mrs. Dr. dear. A manse cat should at least LOOK respectable, in my opinion, whatever he really is. But I never saw such a rakish-looking beast. And he walks along the ridgepole of the manse almost every evening at sunset, Mrs. Dr. dear, and waves his tail, and that is not becoming.

    The worst of it is, they are NEVER decently dressed, sighed Miss Cornelia. And since the snow went they go to school barefooted. Now, you know Anne dearie, that isn’t the right thing for manse children—especially when the Methodist minister’s little girl always wears such nice buttoned boots. And I DO wish they wouldn’t play in the old Methodist graveyard.

    It’s very tempting, when it’s right beside the manse, said Anne. I’ve always thought graveyards must be delightful places to play in.

    Oh, no, you did not, Mrs. Dr. dear, said loyal Susan, determined to protect Anne from herself. You have too much good sense and decorum.

    Why did they ever build that manse beside the graveyard in the first place? asked Anne. Their lawn is so small there is no place for them to play except in the graveyard.

    It WAS a mistake, admitted Miss Cornelia. "But they got the lot cheap. And no other manse children ever thought of playing there. Mr. Meredith shouldn’t allow it. But he has always got his nose buried in a book, when he is home. He reads and reads, or walks about in his study in a day-dream. So far he hasn’t forgotten to be in church on Sundays, but twice he has forgotten about the prayer-meeting and one of the elders had to go over to the manse and remind him. And he forgot about Fanny Cooper’s wedding. They rang him up on the ‘phone and then he rushed right over, just as he was, carpet slippers and all. One wouldn’t mind if the Methodists didn’t laugh so about it. But there’s one comfort—they can’t criticize his sermons. He wakes up when he’s in the pulpit, believe ME. And the Methodist minister can’t preach at all—so they tell me. I have never heard him, thank goodness."

    Miss Cornelia’s scorn of men had abated somewhat since her marriage, but her scorn of Methodists remained untinged of charity. Susan smiled slyly.

    They do say, Mrs. Marshall Elliott, that the Methodists and Presbyterians are talking of uniting, she said.

    Well, all I hope is that I’ll be under the sod if that ever comes to pass, retorted Miss Cornelia. I shall never have truck or trade with Methodists, and Mr. Meredith will find that he’d better steer clear of them, too. He is entirely too sociable with them, believe ME. Why, he went to the Jacob Drews’ silver-wedding supper and got into a nice scrape as a result.

    What was it?

    Mrs. Drew asked him to carve the roast goose—for Jacob Drew never did or could carve. Well, Mr. Meredith tackled it, and in the process he knocked it clean off the platter into Mrs. Reese’s lap, who was sitting next him. And he just said dreamily. ‘Mrs. Reese, will you kindly return me that goose?’ Mrs. Reese ‘returned’ it, as meek as Moses, but she must have been furious, for she had on her new silk dress. The worst of it is, she was a Methodist.

    But I think that is better than if she was a Presbyterian, interjected Susan. If she had been a Presbyterian she would mostly likely have left the church and we cannot afford to lose our members. And Mrs. Reese is not liked in her own church, because she gives herself such great airs, so that the Methodists would be rather pleased that Mr. Meredith spoiled her dress.

    "The point is, he made himself ridiculous, and I, for one, do not like to see my minister made ridiculous in the eyes of the Methodists, said Miss Cornelia stiffly. If he had had a wife it would not have happened."

    I do not see if he had a dozen wives how they could have prevented Mrs. Drew from using up her tough old gander for the wedding-feast, said Susan stubbornly.

    They say that was her husband’s doing, said Miss Cornelia. Jacob Drew is a conceited, stingy, domineering creature.

    And they do say he and his wife detest each other—which does not seem to me the proper way for married folks to get along. But then, of course, I have had no experience along that line, said Susan, tossing her head. "And I am not one to blame everything on the men. Mrs. Drew is mean enough herself. They say that the only thing she was ever known to give away was a crock of butter made out of cream a rat had fell into. She contributed it to a church social. Nobody found out about the rat until afterwards."

    Fortunately, all the people the Merediths have offended so far are Methodists, said Miss Cornelia. That Jerry went to the Methodist prayer-meeting one night about a fortnight ago and sat beside old William Marsh who got up as usual and testified with fearful groans. ‘Do you feel any better now?’ whispered Jerry when William sat down. Poor Jerry meant to be sympathetic, but Mr. Marsh thought he was impertinent and is furious at him. Of course, Jerry had no business to be in a Methodist prayer-meeting at all. But they go where they like.

    I hope they will not offend Mrs. Alec Davis of the Harbour Head, said Susan. She is a very touchy woman, I understand, but she is very well off and pays the most of any one to the salary. I have heard that she says the Merediths are the worst brought up children she ever saw.

    Every word you say convinces me more and more that the Merediths belong to the race that knows Joseph, said Mistress Anne decidedly.

    When all is said and done, they DO, admitted Miss Cornelia. And that balances everything. Anyway, we’ve got them now and we must just do the best we can by them and stick up for them to the Methodists. Well, I suppose I must be getting down harbour. Marshall will soon be home—he went over-harbour to-day—and wanting his super, man-like. I’m sorry I haven’t seen the other children. And where’s the doctor?

    Up at the Harbour Head. We’ve only been home three days and in that time he has spent three hours in his own bed and eaten two meals in his own house.

    "Well, everybody who has been sick for the last six weeks has been waiting for him to come

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