the light of a standing joke, for few of his weather predictions were ever fulfilled. Mr. Elisha Wright, who laboured under the impression that he was a local wit, used to say that nobody in Avonlea ever thought of looking in the Charlottetown dailies for weather probabilities. No; they just asked Uncle Abe what it was going to be to-morrow and expected the opposite. Nothing daunted, Uncle Abe kept on prophesying.
“We want to have the fair over before the election comes off,” continued Mrs. Lynde, “for the candidates will be sure to come and spend lots of money. The Tories are bribing right and left, so they might as well be given a chance to spend their money honestly for once.”
Anne was a red-hot Conservative, out of loyalty to Matthew’s memory, but she said nothing. She knew better than to get Mrs. Lynde started on politics.
She had a letter for Marilla, postmarked from a town in British Columbia.
“It’s probably from the children’s uncle,” she said excitedly, when she got home. “Oh, Marilla, I wonder what he says about them.”
“The best plan might be to open it and see,” said Marilla curtly. A close observer might have thought that she was excited also, but she would rather have died than show it.
Anne tore open the letter and glanced over the somewhat untidy and poorly written contents.
“He says he can’t take the children this spring . . . he’s been sick most of the winter and his wedding is
