Page:Anne of the Island (1920).djvu/19

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE SHADOW OF CHANGE
3

a wink from awe. I never walked through that room when Marilla sent me in on an errand—no, indeed, I tiptoed through it and held my breath, as if I were in church, and felt relieved when I got out of it. The pictures of George Whitefield and the Duke of Wellington hung there, one on each side of the mirror, and frowned so sternly at me all the time I was in, especially if I dared peep in the mirror, which was the only one in the house that didn’t twist my face a little. I always wondered how Marilla dared houseclean that room. And now it’s not only cleaned but stripped bare. George Whitefield and the Duke have been relegated to the upstairs hall. ‘So passes the glory of this world,’” concluded Anne, with a laugh in which there was a little note of regret. It is never pleasant to have our old shrines desecrated, even when we have outgrown them.

“I’ll be so lonesome when you go,” moaned Diana for the hundredth time. “And to think you go next week!”

“But we’re together still,” said Anne cheerily. “We mustn’t let next week rob us of this week’s joy. I hate the thought of going myself—home and I are such good friends. Talk of being lonesome! It’s I who should groan. You’ll be here with any number of your old friends—and Fred! While I shall be alone among strangers, not knowing a soul!”

Except Gilbert—and Charlie Sloane,” said Diana, imitating Anne’s italics and slyness.

“Charlie Sloane will be a great comfort, of course,”