`` I can think of nothing but the question , ` Does the line still hold ? ' '' `` Next Sunday will be Easter , '' said Rilla . `` Will it herald death or life to our cause ? '' Mr. Meredith preached that morning from the text , `` He that endureth to the end shall be saved , '' and hope and confidence rang through his inspiring sentences . Rilla , looking up at the memorial tablet on the wall above their pew , `` sacred to the memory of Walter Cuthbert Blythe , '' felt herself lifted out of her dread and filled anew with courage . Walter could not have laid down his life for naught . His had been the gift of prophetic vision and he had foreseen victory . She would cling to that belief -- the line would hold . In this renewed mood she walked home from church almost gaily . The others , too , were hopeful , and all went smiling into Ingleside . There was no one in the living-room , save Jims , who had fallen asleep on the sofa , and Doc , who sat `` hushed in grim repose '' on the hearth-rug , looking very Hydeish indeed . No one was in the dining-room either -- and , stranger still , no dinner was on the table , which was not even set . Where was Susan ? `` Can she have taken ill ? '' exclaimed Mrs. Blythe anxiously . `` I thought it strange that she did not want to go to church this morning . '' The kitchen door opened and Susan appeared on the threshold with such a ghastly face that Mrs. Blythe cried out in sudden panic . `` Susan , what is it ? '' `` The British line is broken and the German shells are falling on Paris , '' said Susan dully . The three women stared at each other , stricken .
`` It 's not true -- it 's not , '' gasped XXXXX .
Blythe British Doc German Jims Rilla Susan Walter endureth pew