I 'd die really of fright . '' `` Of course it would be romantic , '' conceded Jane Andrews , `` but I know I could n't keep still . I 'd be popping up every minute or so to see where I was and if I was n't drifting too far out . And you know , Anne , that would spoil the effect . '' `` But it 's so ridiculous to have a redheaded Elaine , '' mourned Anne . `` I 'm not afraid to float down and I 'd love to be Elaine . But it 's ridiculous just the same . Ruby ought to be Elaine because she is so fair and has such lovely long golden hair -- Elaine had ` all her bright hair streaming down , ' you know . And Elaine was the lily maid . Now , a red-haired person can not be a lily maid . '' `` Your complexion is just as fair as Ruby 's , '' said Diana earnestly , `` and your hair is ever so much darker than it used to be before you cut it . '' `` Oh , do you really think so ? '' exclaimed Anne , flushing sensitively with delight . `` I 've sometimes thought it was myself -- but I never dared to ask anyone for fear she would tell me it was n't . Do you think it could be called auburn now , Diana ? '' `` Yes , and I think it is real pretty , '' said Diana , looking admiringly at the short , silky curls that clustered over Anne 's head and were held in place by a very jaunty black velvet ribbon and bow . They were standing on the bank of the pond , below Orchard Slope , where a little headland fringed with birches ran out from the bank ; at its tip was a small wooden platform built out into the water for the convenience of fishermen and duck hunters . Ruby and Jane were spending the midsummer afternoon with Diana , and Anne had come over to play with them . Anne and Diana had spent most of their playtime that summer on and about the pond . Idlewild was a thing of the past , Mr. Bell having ruthlessly cut down the little circle of trees in his back pasture in the spring .
XXXXX had sat among the stumps and wept , not without an eye to the romance of it ; but she was speedily consoled , for , after all , as she and Diana said , big girls of thirteen , going on fourteen , were too old for such childish amusements as playhouses , and there were more fascinating sports to be found about the pond .
Andrews Anne Bell Diana Elaine Idlewild Jane Ruby Slope minute