CHAPTER II . Matthew Cuthbert is surprised Matthew Cuthbert and the sorrel mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles to Bright River . It was a pretty road , running along between snug farmsteads , with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through or a hollow where wild plums hung out their filmy bloom . The air was sweet with the breath of many apple orchards and the meadows sloped away in the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple ; while `` The little birds sang as if it were The one day of summer in all the year . '' Matthew enjoyed the drive after his own fashion , except during the moments when he met women and had to nod to them -- for in Prince Edward island you are supposed to nod to all and sundry you meet on the road whether you know them or not . Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel ; he had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him . He may have been quite right in thinking so , for he was an odd-looking personage , with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray hair that touched his stooping shoulders , and a full , soft brown beard which he had worn ever since he was twenty . In fact , he had looked at twenty very much as he looked at sixty , lacking a little of the grayness . When he reached Bright River there was no sign of any train ; he thought he was too early , so he tied his horse in the yard of the small Bright River hotel and went over to the station house . The long platform was almost deserted ; the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting on a pile of shingles at the extreme end . Matthew , barely noting that it WAS a girl , sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at her . Had he looked he could hardly have failed to notice the tense rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression . She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and , since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then , she sat and waited with all her might and main . Matthew encountered the stationmaster locking up the ticket office preparatory to going home for supper , and asked him if the five-thirty train would soon be along . `` The five-thirty train has been in and gone half an hour ago , '' answered that brisk official . `` But there was a passenger dropped off for you -- a little girl . She 's sitting out there on the shingles . I asked her to go into the ladies ' waiting room , but she informed me gravely that she preferred to stay outside . ` There was more scope for imagination , ' she said . She 's a case , I should say . ''
`` I 'm not expecting a girl , '' said XXXXX blankly .
Cuthbert Edward Marilla Matthew Rachel River farmsteads grayness plums right