Anne of Green Gables
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L. M. 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 Anne of Green Gables
5,325 ratings229 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have long loved LM Montgomery's work, and I was thrilled to find this wonderful special limited edition when I visited the Anne of Green Gables Museum in Park Corner, PEI. The tome itself is a truly lovely thing. And the story -- well, in my eyes and in my heart -- the story never grows old.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of my favorite books of all time. I love the beauty in Montgomery's prose, her descriptions of Prince Edward Island, and the people who live in the small town of Avonlea. But most of all, I love Anne Shirley. She is, indeed, a kindred spirit. My love for this book is so strong, it's a struggle to put into words. I feel like I don't have the capacity to describe the wonder and the joy it invokes in me every time I read it. A true classic, and I can't wait to reread the rest of the Anne books this year. Highly, highly recommended. If you haven't read this book, you are, in my opinion, missing out on one of the great pleasures of life. Five stars, and I'd give it more if Library Thing allowed it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After many years, I have decided to revisit this classic series. My mother first introduced me to the series when I was twelve-years-old and I have read it several times since. As a younger reader "Anne of Green Gables" was always my least favourite. Now, forty years later, I was thoroughly entertained by this book. I loved all the descriptions of Green Gables and Avonlea, and the innocence of a bygone era.Matthew Cuthbert, Gilbert Blythe and Aunt Josephine were always my favourite characters, and they remained so. However, I was surprised by how much I liked Anne and Marilla. For some unknown reason, I have always remembered Marilla as a hard, unforgiving woman, but I discovered she really had a heart of gold and loved Anne as though she was her own daughter.As for Anne herself, she used to annoy me with the antics and continual talking, but this time I admired her incorrigible spirit, her love of nature, her vivid imagination and her passion for stories. In fact I found myself close to tears at times when she talked about her past life.Although written over a century ago, I found "Anne of Green Gables" a charming, delightful read which still has much appeal for today's modern readers.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I never read this when I was young. I can see the attraction, for the pre-teen girl, and indeed my own daughter enjoyed it. However, for an adult the story holds very little of interest. I can enjoy the descriptions of nature, but it is too preachy and has little character development except for Anne and a bit for Marilla.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Anne of Green Gables" is very famous story and loved all over the world .A heroine of this story Anne takes a positive attitude on at any time. She is a very strong girl, so I like her!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of my all time favorites. I have read it a few times and will probably read it a few more. I have only gotten through to the second book in the series, but plan on reading others in the future.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before I got married, my middle name was Anne. With an “e.” Just like Anne of Green Gables. Now my middle name is my maiden name, but that’s besides the point.I must have read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery when I was a little girl, but all I remember is watching the movie. So I decided to get through a bunch of the Anne books, obviously starting with the first: Anne of Green Gables.Anyone who knows anything about Anne knows that she feels like a plain child with red hair which she despises, and that she never stops talking.For the full review (and a pic of my very old copy of the book), visit Love at First Book
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this as a youth and in college. Revisited it through the Craft Lit podcast. Can't wait to share it with my nieces - they should be old enough in the next few years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I hadn't read this classic since I was a little girl and it was soo nice to revisit it. I forgot how charming Anne is and how happy her antics made me. As an adult I realize there isn't much of a plot, each chapter is a short story on some mischief or excitement that Anne gets up to, but honestly that makes it all the more charming. I am definitely inspired to read more of the series (I've only ever read the first one!) and to rewatch the show, although from what I hear I may need to avoid the new Netflix original. All in all a great re-read. It definitely holds up :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every, birthday, Christmas, random Monday, etc. my grandparents would gift me a "Great Illustrated Classic." Some of those "classics" I looked at, shrugged my shoulders and put them on my bookshelf, never to be seen again. . until last November when my parents boxed up anything and everything I had left at home. There were a few that sparked my interest enough that I actually read them. Anne of Green Gables was one of those books.
I didn't realize that wasn't the actual book until about a year later when my father arrived home from a business trip with a copy of Anne of Avonlea. I tried reading it and found myself feeling really overwhelmed. Turns out those "Great Illustrated Classics" are dumbed down.
This year I decided to give it another try. I wish I would have picked it up earlier! I adore this book. In fact, it may just be one of my favorite books of all time. I laughed, I cried and I cannot recommend it enough. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's been years since I read this classic so decided to revisit it as part of my 2017 Nostalgia Reading Tour. The novel is set in the nineteenth century in Canada's Prince Edward Island. We are introduced to Anne Shirley, a red headed, freckled, opinionated girl of eleven who is full of enthusiasm and has a boundless imagination. She is adopted by middle aged siblings, Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert, who originally wanted a boy to help with their farm work. Anne doesn't take long to win their hearts and they decide to keep her.
Reading the books fifty years apart I still found Anne of Green Gables to be rich in characterization, dialogue, and description. I loved the characters and the adventures/situations Anne and her friends get into along the way. Anne of Green Gables is a superbly crafted coming of age story which authentically captures its time, its place, and its characters. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 stars! What a lovely little book. I can't wait to continue with this story. Anne was such a wonderful character, and I was frequently moved by her imagination and insight.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thoroughly delightful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of course.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How I missed it when I was young is a mystery. Having caught up with it now after a visit to Prince Edward Island and 2 film adaptations, I can say it's most engaging. Anne of Green Gables stands up to time, it is not ruined by its old times language or religiosity. Mostly I reject reading a book after having seen it on TV or film but this iconic tale was not diminished by having preceded it with viewings.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oh! It was better than I remembered. I laughed out loud so many times; I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh like that, and so often. And I cried like a fool at the end. It's been so long (20 years, I suppose), I'd all together forgotten how it ended.
So glad I revisited this one. A childhood favorite that stands the test of time. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I used to read the entire Anne series when I was at school. Re-reading it now is like wrapping myself up in a lovely, warm blanket, in front of a fire, on a frigid night. It's instant comfort.Anne is a brilliant character: smart, though she longs to be beautiful; caring, but also self-involved; able to hold a grudge, while being forgiving of those she loves. She makes many mistakes, but as she says herself, always learns from them and never makes the same mistake twice. I'm not capable of writing an impartial and disinterested review. There are descriptive passages, detailing the trees and flowers in each setting, which I would usually consider overly long. In this book, I love them. I am clearly biased.As a child, I identified with Anne and found in her a dear friend. As an adult, reading this book is a return to the best parts of my own childhood.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was really lovely, and I'm glad I decided to read it. Anne is such a chatterbox but she has such a fantastic sense of wonder. Now I'm going to tell my daughter to read it. Anne's friend is named Diana just like her, so I know she'll really want to read it :)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born in Nova Scotia, young red headed Anne Shirley became orphaned at the age of three months.
Elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to adopt a boy to help work on their farm, but end up with Anne instead. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The writing here is brilliant and particularly the construction of Anne as a character. But it hits a lull in the last third of the book, where we become more distant from Anne. The writing switches from dialogue to description and starts to feel like I'm reading an overlong epilogue.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I absolutely loved this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I did not read these, or see the show, as a child. I enjoyed this book. It is a slow book without lots of action, but, it has endearing characters. I immediately fell for Matthew, who becomes one of Anne's guardians. I very much enjoyed the pace in the final quarter of the book. I have watched maybe three episodes of the new Netflix series and have mostly enjoyed it, though they have taken some liberties.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It was SO much fun to revisit Anne! It is such a sweet story and I can't wait till my daughter is older so that I can share it with her. I'm looking forward to watching the new series on Netflix as well.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne of Green Gables is about an orphan who is sent to live with an older brother and sister. This book is sweet, funny, and interesting; it is a book that students will love to read and not want to put it down. Her misfortunes are very relatable for most school aged kids.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Anne begins an adventure at Green Gables, outside of Prince Edwards Island. Siblings, Marilla and Matthew decided to adopt a young boy but by mistake they received Anne. At first Marilla wants Anne to return to the Orphanage but after a couple of days changes her mind. The book talks about Anne's past and her adventures in making a home. When Anne turns 16, she goes to an academy to get her teaching license where she gets her license in one year and wins a very important scholarship. The scholarship allows her to obtain her B.A. at another college. Towards the end of the book there is a series of unfortunate events that leads Anne to give away her scholarship and stay at home. Anne gets a teaching job not too far from home.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I thought this was a great book about friendship and learning the ways of life and growing up to be a whole different wonderful person. I loved how much Anne amigned about almost everything and believed in herself.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a really cute story. Anne is so likeable, but I wish she would have kept a little more of that child-like imagination as she grew.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What a strange sensation: I have never enjoyed a book so much where I completely loathed the main character. If I were Marilla, I probably would have smothered Anne in her sleep; she's so obnoxious. Her adventures are very amusing, however
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5"If the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flower's of quiet happiness would bloom along it." Taken from the last chapter after Matthew died and Marilla is discovered to have severe eye problems. Anne decides to give up her scholarship and teach at her local school so she can help Marilla and they can keep Green Gables. Anne has a vivid imagination for beauty in nature.
Book preview
Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
CHAPTER I
Mrs. Rachel Lynde is Surprised
Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.
There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor's business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she ran
the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting cotton warp
quilts--she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices--and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel's all-seeing eye.
She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky- white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde-- a meek little man whom Avonlea people called Rachel Lynde's husband
--was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables. Mrs. Rachel knew that he ought because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J. Blair's store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next afternoon. Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life.
And yet here was Matthew Cuthbert, at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day, placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill; moreover, he wore a white collar and his best suit of clothes, which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea; and he had the buggy and the sorrel mare, which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. Now, where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?
Had it been any other man in Avonlea, Mrs. Rachel, deftly putting this and that together, might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions. But Matthew so rarely went from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him; he was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or to any place where he might have to talk. Matthew, dressed up with a white collar and driving in a buggy, was something that didn't happen often. Mrs. Rachel, ponder as she might, could make nothing of it and her afternoon's enjoyment was spoiled.
I'll just step over to Green Gables after tea and find out from Marilla where he's gone and why,
the worthy woman finally concluded. He doesn't generally go to town this time of year and he NEVER visits; if he'd run out of turnip seed he wouldn't dress up and take the buggy to go for more; he wasn't driving fast enough to be going for a doctor. Yet something must have happened since last night to start him off. I'm clean puzzled, that's what, and I won't know a minute's peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today.
Accordingly after tea Mrs. Rachel set out; she had not far to go; the big, rambling, orchard-embowered house where the Cuthberts lived was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from Lynde's Hollow. To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal further. Matthew Cuthbert's father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead. Green Gables was built at the furthest edge of his cleared land and there it was to this day, barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses were so sociably situated. Mrs. Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a place LIVING at all.
It's just STAYING, that's what,
she said as she stepped along the deep-rutted, grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes. It's no wonder Matthew and Marilla are both a little odd, living away back here by themselves. Trees aren't much company, though dear knows if they were there'd be enough of them. I'd ruther look at people. To be sure, they seem contented enough; but then, I suppose, they're used to it. A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said.
With this Mrs. Rachel stepped out of the lane into the backyard of Green Gables. Very green and neat and precise was that yard, set about on one side with great patriarchal willows and the other with prim Lombardies. Not a stray stick nor stone was to be seen, for Mrs. Rachel would have seen it if there had been. Privately she was of the opinion that Marilla Cuthbert swept that yard over as often as she swept her house. One could have eaten a meal off the ground without overbrimming the proverbial peck of dirt.
Mrs. Rachel rapped smartly at the kitchen door and stepped in when bidden to do so. The kitchen at Green Gables was a cheerful apartment--or would have been cheerful if it had not been so painfully clean as to give it something of the appearance of an unused parlor. Its windows looked east and west; through the west one, looking out on the back yard, came a flood of mellow June sunlight; but the east one, whence you got a glimpse of the bloom white cherry-trees in the left orchard and nodding, slender birches down in the hollow by the brook, was greened over by a tangle of vines. Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible a thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously; and here she sat now, knitting, and the table behind her was laid for supper.
Mrs. Rachel, before she had fairly closed the door, had taken a mental note of everything that was on that table. There were three plates laid, so that Marilla must be expecting some one home with Matthew to tea; but the dishes were everyday dishes and there was only crab-apple preserves and one kind of cake, so that the expected company could not be any particular company. Yet what of Matthew's white collar and the sorrel mare? Mrs. Rachel was getting fairly dizzy with this unusual mystery about quiet, unmysterious Green Gables.
Good evening, Rachel,
Marilla said briskly. This is a real fine evening, isn't it
Won't you sit down? How are all your folks?"
Something that for lack of any other name might be called friendship existed and always had existed between Marilla Cuthbert and Mrs. Rachel, in spite of--or perhaps because of--their dissimilarity.
Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; her dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it. She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor.
We're all pretty well,
said Mrs. Rachel. I was kind of afraid YOU weren't, though, when I saw Matthew starting off today. I thought maybe he was going to the doctor's.
Marilla's lips twitched understandingly. She had expected Mrs. Rachel up; she had known that the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her neighbor's curiosity.
Oh, no, I'm quite well although I had a bad headache yesterday,
she said. Matthew went to Bright River. We're getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia and he's coming on the train tonight.
If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to meet a kangaroo from Australia Mrs. Rachel could not have been more astonished. She was actually stricken dumb for five seconds. It was unsupposable that Marilla was making fun of her, but Mrs. Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.
Are you in earnest, Marilla?
she demanded when voice returned to her.
Yes, of course,
said Marilla, as if getting boys from orphan asylums in Nova Scotia were part of the usual spring work on any well-regulated Avonlea farm instead of being an unheard of innovation.
Mrs. Rachel felt that she had received a severe mental jolt. She thought in exclamation points. A boy! Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of all people adopting a boy! From an orphan asylum! Well, the world was certainly turning upside down! She would be surprised at nothing after this! Nothing!
What on earth put such a notion into your head?
she demanded disapprovingly.
This had been done without here advice being asked, and must perforce be disapproved.
Well, we've been thinking about it for some time--all winter in fact,
returned Marilla. Mrs. Alexander Spencer was up here one day before Christmas and she said she was going to get a little girl from the asylum over in Hopeton in the spring. Her cousin lives there and Mrs. Spencer has visited here and knows all about it. So Matthew and I have talked it over off and on ever since. We thought we'd get a boy. Matthew is getting up in years, you know--he's sixty-- and he isn't so spry as he once was. His heart troubles him a good deal. And you know how desperate hard it's got to be to get hired help. There's never anybody to be had but those stupid, half-grown little French boys; and as soon as you do get one broke into your ways and taught something he's up and off to the lobster canneries or the States. At first Matthew suggested getting a Home boy. But I said `no' flat to that. `They may be all right--I'm not saying they're not--but no London street Arabs for me,' I said. `Give me a native born at least. There'll be a risk, no matter who we get. But I'll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.' So in the end we decided to ask Mrs. Spencer to pick us out one when she went over to get her little girl. We heard last week she was going, so we sent her word by Richard Spencer's folks at Carmody to bring us a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven. We decided that would be the best age--old enough to be of some use in doing chores right off and young enough to be trained up proper. We mean to give him a good home and schooling. We had a telegram from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today--the mail-man brought it from the station-- saying they were coming on the five-thirty train tonight. So Matthew went to Bright River to meet him. Mrs. Spencer will drop him off there. Of course she goes on to White Sands station herself
Mrs. Rachel prided herself on always speaking her mind; she proceeded to speak it now, having adjusted her mental attitude to this amazing piece of news.
Well, Marilla, I'll just tell you plain that I think you're doing a mighty foolish thing--a risky thing, that's what. You don't know what you're getting. You're bringing a strange child into your house and home and you don't know a single thing about him nor what his disposition is like nor what sort of parents he had nor how he's likely to turn out. Why, it was only last week I read in the paper how a man and his wife up west of the Island took a boy out of an orphan asylum and he set fire to the house at night--set it ON PURPOSE, Marilla--and nearly burnt them to a crisp in their beds. And I know another case where an adopted boy used to suck the eggs--they couldn't break him of it. If you had asked my advice in the matter--which you didn't do, Marilla--I'd have said for mercy's sake not to think of such a thing, that's what.
This Job's comforting seemed neither to offend nor to alarm Marilla. She knitted steadily on.
I don't deny there's something in what you say, Rachel. I've had some qualms myself. But Matthew was terrible set on it. I could see that, so I gave in. It's so seldom Matthew sets his mind on anything that when he does I always feel it's my duty to give in. And as for the risk, there's risks in pretty near everything a body does in this world. There's risks in people's having children of their own if it comes to that--they don't always turn out well. And then Nova Scotia is right close to the Island. It isn't as if we were getting him from England or the States. He can't be much different from ourselves.
Well, I hope it will turn out all right,
said Mrs. Rachel in a tone that plainly indicated her painful doubts. Only don't say I didn't warn you if he burns Green Gables down or puts strychnine in the well--I heard of a case over in New Brunswick where an orphan asylum child did that and the whole family died in fearful agonies. Only, it was a girl in that instance.
Well, we're not getting a girl,
said Marilla, as if poisoning wells were a purely feminine accomplishment and not to be dreaded in the case of a boy. I'd never dream of taking a girl to bring up. I wonder at Mrs. Alexander Spencer for doing it. But there, SHE wouldn't shrink from adopting a whole orphan asylum if she took it into her head.
Mrs. Rachel would have liked to stay until Matthew came home with his imported orphan. But reflecting that it would be a good two hours at least before his arrival she concluded to go up the road to Robert Bell's and tell the news. It would certainly make a sensation second to none, and Mrs. Rachel dearly loved to make a sensation. So she took herself away, somewhat to Marilla's relief, for the latter felt her doubts and fears reviving under the influence of Mrs. Rachel's pessimism.
Well, of all things that ever were or will be!
ejaculated Mrs. Rachel when she was safely out in the lane. It does really seem as if I must be dreaming. Well, I'm sorry for that poor young one and no mistake. Matthew and Marilla don't know anything about children and they'll expect him to be wiser and steadier that his own grandfather, if so be's he ever had a grandfather, which is doubtful. It seems uncanny to think of a child at Green Gables somehow; there's never been one there, for Matthew and Marilla were grown up when the new house was built--if they ever WERE children, which is hard to believe when one looks at them. I wouldn't be in that orphan's shoes for anything. My, but I pity him, that's what.
So said Mrs. Rachel to the wild rose bushes out of the fulness of her heart; but if she could have seen the child who was waiting patiently at the Bright River station at that very moment her pity would have been still deeper and more profound.
CHAPTER II
Matthew Cuthbert is surprised
Matthew Cuthbert and the sorrel mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles to Bright River. It was a pretty road, running along between snug farmsteads, with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through or a hollow where wild plums hung out their filmy bloom. The air was sweet with the breath of many apple orchards and the meadows sloped away in the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple; while
The little birds sang as if it were The one day of summer in all the year.
Matthew enjoyed the drive after his own fashion, except during the moments when he met women and had to nod to them-- for in Prince Edward island you are supposed to nod to all and sundry you meet on the road whether you know them or not.
Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel; he had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him. He may have been quite right in thinking so, for he was an odd-looking personage, with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray hair that touched his stooping shoulders, and a full, soft brown beard which he had worn ever since he was twenty. In fact, he had looked at twenty very much as he looked at sixty, lacking a little of the grayness.
When he reached Bright River there was no sign of any train; he thought he was too early, so he tied his horse in the yard of the small Bright River hotel and went over to the station house. The long platform was almost deserted; the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting on a pile of shingles at the extreme end. Matthew, barely noting that it WAS a girl, sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at her. Had he looked he could hardly have failed to notice the tense rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression. She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and, since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.
Matthew encountered the stationmaster locking up the ticket office preparatory to going home for supper, and asked him if the five-thirty train would soon be along.
The five-thirty train has been in and gone half an hour ago,
answered that brisk official. But there was a passenger dropped off for you--a little girl. She's sitting out there on the shingles. I asked her to go into the ladies' waiting room, but she informed me gravely that she preferred to stay outside. `There was more scope for imagination,' she said. She's a case, I should say.
I'm not expecting a girl,
said Matthew blankly. It's a boy I've come for. He should be here. Mrs. Alexander Spencer was to bring him over from Nova Scotia for me.
The stationmaster whistled.
Guess there's some mistake,
he said. Mrs. Spencer came off the train with that girl and gave her into my charge. Said you and your sister were adopting her from an orphan asylum and that you would be along for her presently. That's all I know about it--and I haven't got any more orphans concealed hereabouts.
I don't understand,
said Matthew helplessly, wishing that Marilla was at hand to cope with the situation.
Well, you'd better question the girl,
said the station- master carelessly. I dare say she'll be able to explain-- she's got a tongue of her own, that's certain. Maybe they were out of boys of the brand you wanted.
He walked jauntily away, being hungry, and the unfortunate Matthew was left to do that which was harder for him than bearding a lion in its den--walk up to a girl--a strange girl--an orphan girl--and demand of her why she wasn't a boy. Matthew groaned in spirit as he turned about and shuffled gently down the platform towards her.
She had been watching him ever since he had passed her and she had her eyes on him now. Matthew was not looking at her and would not have seen what she was really like if he had been, but an ordinary observer would have seen this: A child of about eleven, garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish-gray wincey. She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of very thick, decidedly red hair. Her face was small, white and thin, also much freckled; her mouth was large and so were her eyes, which looked green in some lights and moods and gray in others.
So far, the ordinary observer; an extraordinary observer might have seen that the chin was very pointed and pronounced; that the big eyes were full of spirit and vivacity; that the mouth was sweet-lipped and expressive; that the forehead was broad and full; in short, our discerning extraordinary observer might have concluded that no commonplace soul inhabited the body of this stray woman- child of whom shy Matthew Cuthbert was so ludicrously afraid.
Matthew, however, was spared the ordeal of speaking first, for as soon as she concluded that he was coming to her she stood up, grasping with one thin brown hand the handle of a shabby, old-fashioned carpet-bag; the other she held out to him.
I suppose you are Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables?
she said in a peculiarly clear, sweet voice. I'm very glad to see you. I was beginning to be afraid you weren't coming for me and I was imagining all the things that might have happened to prevent you. I had made up my mind that if you didn't come for me to-night I'd go down the track to that big wild cherry-tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night. I wouldn't be a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry-tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don't you think? You could imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn't you? And I was quite sure you would come for me in the morning, if you didn't to-night.
Matthew had taken the scrawny little hand awkwardly in his; then and there he decided what to do. He could not tell this child with the glowing eyes that there had been a mistake; he would take her home and let Marilla do that. She couldn't be left at Bright River anyhow, no matter what mistake had been made, so all questions and explanations might as well be deferred until he was safely back at Green Gables.
I'm sorry I was late,
he said shyly. Come along. The horse is over in the yard. Give me your bag.
Oh, I can carry it,
the child responded cheerfully. It isn't heavy. I've got all my worldly goods in it, but it isn't heavy. And if it isn't carried in just a certain way the handle pulls out--so I'd better keep it because I know the exact knack of it. It's an extremely old carpet-bag. Oh, I'm very glad you've come, even if it would have been nice to sleep in a wild cherry-tree. We've got to drive a long piece, haven't we? Mrs. Spencer said it was eight miles. I'm glad because I love driving. Oh, it seems so wonderful that I'm going to live with you and belong to you. I've never belonged to anybody--not really. But the asylum was the worst. I've only been in it four months, but that was enough. I don't suppose you ever were an orphan in an asylum, so you can't possibly understand what it is like. It's worse than anything you could imagine. Mrs. Spencer said it was wicked of me to talk like that, but I didn't mean to be wicked. It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it? They were good, you know--the asylum people. But there is so little scope for the imagination in an asylum--only just in the other orphans. It was pretty interesting to imagine things about them--to imagine that perhaps the girl who sat next to you was really the daughter of a belted earl, who had been stolen away from her parents in her infancy by a cruel nurse who died before she could confess. I used to lie awake at nights and imagine things like that, because I didn't have time in the day. I guess that's why I'm so thin--I AM dreadful thin, ain't I? There isn't a pick on my bones. I do love to imagine I'm nice and plump, with dimples in my elbows.
With this Matthew's companion stopped talking, partly because she was out of breath and partly because they had reached the buggy. Not another word did she say until they had left the village and were driving down a steep little hill, the road part of which had been cut so deeply into the soft soil, that the banks, fringed with blooming wild cherry-trees and slim white birches, were several feet above their heads.
The child put out her hand and broke off a branch of wild plum that brushed against the side of the buggy.
Isn't that beautiful? What did that tree, leaning out from the bank, all white and lacy, make you think of?
she asked.
Well now, I dunno,
said Matthew.
Why, a bride, of course--a bride all in white with a lovely misty veil. I've never seen one, but I can imagine what she would look like. I don't ever expect to be a bride myself. I'm so homely nobody will ever want to marry me-- unless it might be a foreign missionary. I suppose a foreign missionary mightn't be very particular. But I do hope that some day I shall have a white dress. That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss. I just love pretty clothes. And I've never had a pretty dress in my life that I can remember--but of course it's all the more to look forward to, isn't it? And then I can imagine that I'm dressed gorgeously. This morning when I left the asylum I felt so ashamed because I had to wear this horrid old wincey dress. All the orphans had to wear them, you know. A merchant in Hopeton last winter donated three hundred yards of wincey to the asylum. Some people said it was because he couldn't sell it, but I'd rather believe that it was out of the kindness of his heart, wouldn't you? When we got on the train I felt as if everybody must be looking at me and pitying me. But I just went to work and imagined that I had on the most beautiful pale blue silk dress--because when you ARE imagining you might as well imagine something worth while--and a big hat all flowers and nodding plumes, and a gold watch, and kid gloves and boots. I felt cheered up right away and I enjoyed my trip to the Island with all my might. I wasn't a bit sick coming over in the boat. Neither was Mrs. Spencer although she generally is. She said she hadn't time to get sick, watching to see that I didn't fall overboard. She said she never saw the beat of me for prowling about. But if it kept her from being seasick it's a mercy I did prowl, isn't it? And I wanted to see everything that was to be seen on that boat, because I didn't know whether I'd ever have another opportunity. Oh, there are a lot more cherry-trees all in bloom! This Island is the bloomiest place. I just love it already, and I'm so glad I'm going to live here. I've always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here, but I never really expected I would. It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it? But those red roads are so funny. When we got into the train at Charlottetown and the red roads began to flash past I asked Mrs. Spencer what made them red and she said she didn't know and for pity's sake not to ask her any more questions. She said I must have asked her a thousand already. I suppose I had, too, but how you going to find out about things if you don't ask questions? And what DOES make the roads red?
Well now, I dunno,
said Matthew.
Well, that is one of the things to find out sometime. Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive-- it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there? But am I talking too much? People are always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn't talk? If you say so I'll stop. I can STOP when I make up my mind to it, although it's difficult.
Matthew, much to his own surprise, was enjoying himself. Like most quiet folks he liked talkative people when they were willing to do the talking themselves and did not expect him to keep up his end of it. But he had never expected to enjoy the society of a little girl. Women were bad enough in all conscience, but little girls were worse. He detested the way they had of sidling past him timidly, with sidewise glances, as if