Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery (distant reading .TXT) đ
- Author: L. M. Montgomery
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âI wonât cry. Itâs sillyâ âand weakâ âthereâs the third tear splashing down by my nose. There are more coming! I must think of something funny to stop them. But thereâs nothing funny except what is connected with Avonlea, and that only makes things worseâ âfourâ âfiveâ âIâm going home next Friday, but that seems a hundred years away. Oh, Matthew is nearly home by nowâ âand Marilla is at the gate, looking down the lane for himâ âsixâ âsevenâ âeightâ âoh, thereâs no use in counting them! Theyâre coming in a flood presently. I canât cheer upâ âI donât want to cheer up. Itâs nicer to be miserable!â
The flood of tears would have come, no doubt, had not Josie Pye appeared at that moment. In the joy of seeing a familiar face Anne forgot that there had never been much love lost between her and Josie. As a part of Avonlea life even a Pye was welcome.
âIâm so glad you came up,â Anne said sincerely.
âYouâve been crying,â remarked Josie, with aggravating pity. âI suppose youâre homesickâ âsome people have so little self-control in that respect. Iâve no intention of being homesick, I can tell you. Townâs too jolly after that poky old Avonlea. I wonder how I ever existed there so long. You shouldnât cry, Anne; it isnât becoming, for your nose and eyes get red, and then you seem all red. Iâd a perfectly scrumptious time in the Academy today. Our French professor is simply a duck. His moustache would give you kerwollowps of the heart. Have you anything eatable around, Anne? Iâm literally starving. Ah, I guessed likely Marillaâd load you up with cake. Thatâs why I called round. Otherwise Iâd have gone to the park to hear the band play with Frank Stockley. He boards same place as I do, and heâs a sport. He noticed you in class today, and asked me who the redheaded girl was. I told him you were an orphan that the Cuthberts had adopted, and nobody knew very much about what youâd been before that.â
Anne was wondering if, after all, solitude and tears were not more satisfactory than Josie Pyeâs companionship when Jane and Ruby appeared, each with an inch of Queenâs color ribbonâ âpurple and scarletâ âpinned proudly to her coat. As Josie was not âspeakingâ to Jane just then she had to subside into comparative harmlessness.
âWell,â said Jane with a sigh, âI feel as if Iâd lived many moons since the morning. I ought to be home studying my Virgilâ âthat horrid old professor gave us twenty lines to start in on tomorrow. But I simply couldnât settle down to study tonight. Anne, methinks I see the traces of tears. If youâve been crying do own up. It will restore my self-respect, for I was shedding tears freely before Ruby came along. I donât mind being a goose so much if somebody else is goosey, too. Cake? Youâll give me a teeny piece, wonât you? Thank you. It has the real Avonlea flavor.â
Ruby, perceiving the Queenâs calendar lying on the table, wanted to know if Anne meant to try for the gold medal.
Anne blushed and admitted she was thinking of it.
âOh, that reminds me,â said Josie, âQueenâs is to get one of the Avery scholarships after all. The word came today. Frank Stockley told meâ âhis uncle is one of the board of governors, you know. It will be announced in the Academy tomorrow.â
An Avery scholarship! Anne felt her heart beat more quickly, and the horizons of her ambition shifted and broadened as if by magic. Before Josie had told the news Anneâs highest pinnacle of aspiration had been a teacherâs provincial license, First Class, at the end of the year, and perhaps the medal! But now in one moment Anne saw herself winning the Avery scholarship, taking an Arts course at Redmond College, and graduating in a gown and mortar board, before the echo of Josieâs words had died away. For the Avery scholarship was in English, and Anne felt that here her foot was on native heath.
A wealthy manufacturer of New Brunswick had died and left part of his fortune to endow a large number of scholarships to be distributed among the various high schools and academies of the Maritime Provinces, according to their respective standings. There had been much doubt whether one would be allotted to Queenâs, but the matter was settled at last, and at the end of the year the graduate who made the highest mark in English and English Literature would win the scholarshipâ âtwo hundred and fifty dollars a year for four years at Redmond College. No wonder that Anne went to bed that night with tingling cheeks!
âIâll win that scholarship if hard work can do it,â she resolved. âWouldnât Matthew be proud if I got to be a B.A.? Oh, itâs delightful to have ambitions. Iâm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to themâ âthatâs the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.â
XXXV The Winter at QueenâsAnneâs homesickness wore off, greatly helped in the wearing by her weekend visits home. As long as the open weather lasted the Avonlea students went out to Carmody on the new branch railway every Friday night.
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