`` Mrs. Lynde is a -- '' began Anne hotly ; then stopped . `` Awful old gossip , '' completed Davy calmly . `` That 's what every one calls her . But is it a sure thing , Anne ? I want to know . '' `` You 're a very silly little boy , Davy , '' said Anne , stalking haughtily out of the room . The kitchen was deserted and she sat down by the window in the fast falling wintry twilight . The sun had set and the wind had died down . A pale chilly moon looked out behind a bank of purple clouds in the west . The sky faded out , but the strip of yellow along the western horizon grew brighter and fiercer , as if all the stray gleams of light were concentrating in one spot ; the distant hills , rimmed with priest-like firs , stood out in dark distinctness against it . Anne looked across the still , white fields , cold and lifeless in the harsh light of that grim sunset , and sighed . She was very lonely ; and she was sad at heart ; for she was wondering if she would be able to return to Redmond next year . It did not seem likely . The only scholarship possible in the Sophomore year was a very small affair . She would not take Marilla 's money ; and there seemed little prospect of being able to earn enough in the summer vacation . `` I suppose I 'll just have to drop out next year , '' she thought drearily , `` and teach a district school again until I earn enough to finish my course . And by that time all my old class will have graduated and Patty 's Place will be out of the question . But there ! I 'm not going to be a coward . I 'm thankful I can earn my way through if necessary . ''
`` Here 's Mr. Harrison wading up the lane , '' announced XXXXX , running out .
Davy Lynde Marilla Patty Redmond distinctness firs gleams twilight year