Oh, Anne, gasped Diana, fairly falling on the former s neck
and weeping with relief and delight, oh, Anne--we thought--you
were--drowned--and we felt like murderers--because we had made--you
be--Elaine. And Ruby is in hysterics--oh, Anne, how did you escape?
I climbed up on one of the piles, explained Anne wearily, and Gilbert
Blythe came along in Mr. Andrews s dory and brought me to land.
Oh, Anne, how splendid of him! Why, it s so romantic! said Jane,
finding breath enough for utterance at last. Of course you ll speak to
him after this.
Of course I won t, flashed Anne, with a momentary return of her old
spirit. And I don t want ever to hear the word romantic again, Jane
Andrews. I m awfully sorry you were so frightened, girls. It is all my
fault. I feel sure I was born under an unlucky star. Everything I do
gets me or my dearest friends into a scrape. We ve gone and lost your
father s flat, Diana, and I have a presentiment that we ll not be
allowed to row on the pond any more.
Anne s presentiment proved more trustworthy than presentiments are apt
to do. Great was the consternation in the Barry and Cuthbert households
when the events of the afternoon became known.
Will you ever have any sense, Anne? groaned Marilla.
Oh, yes, I think I will, Marilla, returned Anne optimistically. A good
cry, indulged in the grateful solitude of the east gable, had soothed
her nerves and restored her to her wonted cheerfulness. I think my
prospects of becoming sensible are brighter now than ever.
I don t see how, said Marilla.
Well, explained Anne, I ve learned a new and valuable lesson today.
Ever since I came to Green Gables I ve been making mistakes, and each
mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming. The affair of
the amethyst brooch cured me of meddling with things that didn t belong
to me. The Haunted Wood mistake cured me of letting my imagination run
away with me. The liniment cake mistake cured me of carelessness in
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