He was reported to be awesomely clever , with the glamour of a far-away city and a big university hanging around him . He had also the reputation of being a bit of a lady-killer . But that probably accrued to him from his possession of a laughing , velvety voice which no girl could hear without a heartbeat , and a dangerous way of listening as if she were saying something that he had longed all his life to hear . `` Is this Rilla-my-Rilla ? '' he asked in a low tone . `` Yeth , '' said Rilla , and immediately wished she could throw herself headlong down the lighthouse rock or otherwise vanish from a jeering world . Rilla had lisped in early childhood ; but she had grown out of it . Only on occasions of stress and strain did the tendency re-assert itself . She had n't lisped for a year ; and now at this very moment , when she was so especially desirous of appearing grown up and sophisticated , she must go and lisp like a baby ! It was too mortifying ; she felt as if tears were going to come into her eyes ; the next minute she would be -- blubbering -- yes , just blubbering -- she wished Kenneth would go away -- she wished he had never come . The party was spoiled . Everything had turned to dust and ashes . And he had called her `` Rilla-my-Rilla '' -- not `` Spider '' or `` Kid '' or `` Puss , '' as he had been used to call her when he took any notice whatever of her . She did not at all resent his using Walter 's pet name for her ; it sounded beautifully in his low caressing tones , with just the faintest suggestion of emphasis on the `` my . '' It would have been so nice if she had not made a fool of herself . She dared not look up lest she should see laughter in his eyes . So she looked down ; and as her lashes were very long and dark and her lids very thick and creamy , the effect was quite charming and provocative , and Kenneth reflected that Rilla Blythe was going to be the beauty of the Ingleside girls after all . He wanted to make her look up -- to catch again that little , demure , questioning glance . She was the prettiest thing at the party , there was no doubt of that . What was he saying ?
XXXXX could hardly believe her ears .
Blythe Kenneth Puss Rilla Rilla-my-Rilla Walter Yeth lady-killer lighthouse year