Surely that 's enough . There 's bound to be one dunce in every family . I 'm quite willing to be a dunce if I can be a pretty , popular , delightful one . I ca n't be clever . I have no talent at all , and you ca n't imagine how comfortable it is . Nobody expects me to do anything so I 'm never pestered to do it . And I ca n't be a housewifely , cookly creature , either . I hate sewing and dusting , and when Susan could n't teach me to make biscuits nobody could . Father says I toil not neither do I spin . Therefore , I must be a lily of the field , '' concluded Rilla , with another laugh . `` You are too young to give up your studies altogether , Rilla . '' `` Oh , mother will put me through a course of reading next winter . It will polish up her B.A. degree . Luckily I like reading . Do n't look at me so sorrowfully and so disapprovingly , dearest . I ca n't be sober and serious -- everything looks so rosy and rainbowy to me . Next month I 'll be fifteen -- and next year sixteen -- and the year after that seventeen . Could anything be more enchanting ? '' `` Rap wood , '' said Gertrude Oliver , half laughingly , half seriously . `` Rap wood , Rilla-my-Rilla . ''
CHAPTER III MOONLIT MIRTH Rilla , who still buttoned up her eyes when she went to sleep so that she always looked as if she were laughing in her slumber , yawned , stretched , and smiled at Gertrude XXXXX .
Father Oliver Rilla Rilla-my-Rilla Susan anything dunce rainbowy talent winter