I like Dick Moore better now than I ever did when he was in his right senses -- though the Lord knows that is n't saying much . I was down there one day in housecleaning time helping Leslie a bit , and I was frying doughnuts . Dick was hanging round to get one , as usual , and all at once he picked up a scalding hot one I 'd just fished out and dropped it on the back of my neck when I was bending over . Then he laughed and laughed . Believe ME , Anne , it took all the grace of God in my heart to keep me from just whisking up that stew-pan of boiling fat and pouring it over his head . '' Anne laughed over Miss Cornelia 's wrath as she sped through the darkness . But laughter accorded ill with that night . She was sober enough when she reached the house among the willows . Everything was very silent . The front part of the house seemed dark and deserted , so Anne slipped round to the side door , which opened from the veranda into a little sitting room . There she halted noiselessly . The door was open . Beyond , in the dimly lighted room , sat Leslie Moore , with her arms flung out on the table and her head bent upon them . She was weeping horribly -- with low , fierce , choking sobs , as if some agony in her soul were trying to tear itself out . An old black dog was sitting by her , his nose resting on his lap , his big doggish eyes full of mute , imploring sympathy and devotion . Anne drew back in dismay . She felt that she could not intermeddle with this bitterness . Her heart ached with a sympathy she might not utter . To go in now would be to shut the door forever on any possible help or friendship . Some instinct warned Anne that the proud , bitter girl would never forgive the one who thus surprised her in her abandonment of despair .
XXXXX slipped noiselessly from the veranda and found her way across the yard .
Anne Cornelia Dick Moore abandonment choking doughnuts night right stew-pan