Late in the afternoon she found herself , with a buggy full of parcels , at the entrance to a grassy , deep-rutted lane leading to the harbour shore , wondering whether it was worth while to call down at the Anderson house . The Andersons were desperately poor and it was not likely Mrs. Anderson had anything to give . On the other hand , her husband , who was an Englishman by birth and who had been working in Kingsport when the war broke out , had promptly sailed for England to enlist there , without , it may be said , coming home or sending much hard cash to represent him . So possibly Mrs. Anderson might feel hurt if she were overlooked . Rilla decided to call . There were times afterwards when she wished she had n't , but in the long run she was very thankful that she did . The Anderson house was a small and tumbledown affair , crouching in a grove of battered spruces near the shore as if rather ashamed of itself and anxious to hide . Rilla tied her grey nag to the rickety fence and went to the door . It was open ; and the sight she saw bereft her temporarily of the power of speech or motion . Through the open door of the small bedroom opposite her , Rilla saw Mrs. Anderson lying on the untidy bed ; and Mrs. Anderson was dead . There was no doubt of that ; neither was there any doubt that the big , frowzy , red-headed , red-faced , over-fat woman sitting near the door-way , smoking a pipe quite comfortably , was very much alive . She rocked idly back and forth amid her surroundings of squalid disorder , and paid no attention whatever to the piercing wails proceeding from a cradle in the middle of the room . Rilla knew the woman by sight and reputation . Her name was Mrs. Conover ; she lived down at the fishing village ; she was a great-aunt of Mrs. Anderson ; and she drank as well as smoked . Rilla 's first impulse was to turn and flee . But that would never do . Perhaps this woman , repulsive as she was , needed help -- though she certainly did not look as if she were worrying over the lack of it . `` Come in , '' said Mrs. Conover , removing her pipe and staring at Rilla with her little , rat-like eyes . `` Is -- is Mrs. Anderson really dead ? '' asked Rilla timidly , as she stepped over the sill .
`` Dead as a door nail , '' responded Mrs. XXXXX cheerfully .
Andersons Conover Englishman Kingsport Rilla door-way first harbour nag smoking