I shall have such a comfortable feeling deep down in my mind about that flounce . '' `` It 's worth something to have that , '' admitted Marilla . Miss Stacy came back to Avonlea school and found all her pupils eager for work once more . Especially did the Queen 's class gird up their loins for the fray , for at the end of the coming year , dimly shadowing their pathway already , loomed up that fateful thing known as `` the Entrance , '' at the thought of which one and all felt their hearts sink into their very shoes . Suppose they did not pass ! That thought was doomed to haunt Anne through the waking hours of that winter , Sunday afternoons inclusive , to the almost entire exclusion of moral and theological problems . When Anne had bad dreams she found herself staring miserably at pass lists of the Entrance exams , where Gilbert Blythe 's name was blazoned at the top and in which hers did not appear at all . But it was a jolly , busy , happy swift-flying winter . Schoolwork was as interesting , class rivalry as absorbing , as of yore . New worlds of thought , feeling , and ambition , fresh , fascinating fields of unexplored knowledge seemed to be opening out before Anne 's eager eyes . `` Hills peeped o'er hill and Alps on Alps arose . '' Much of all this was due to Miss Stacy 's tactful , careful , broadminded guidance . She led her class to think and explore and discover for themselves and encouraged straying from the old beaten paths to a degree that quite shocked Mrs. Lynde and the school trustees , who viewed all innovations on established methods rather dubiously . Apart from her studies Anne expanded socially , for Marilla , mindful of the Spencervale doctor 's dictum , no longer vetoed occasional outings . The Debating Club flourished and gave several concerts ; there were one or two parties almost verging on grown-up affairs ; there were sleigh drives and skating frolics galore . Betweentimes Anne grew , shooting up so rapidly that Marilla was astonished one day , when they were standing side by side , to find the girl was taller than herself . `` Why , Anne , how you 've grown ! '' she said , almost unbelievingly . A sigh followed on the words . Marilla felt a queer regret over Anne 's inches .
The child she had learned to love had vanished somehow and here was this tall , serious-eyed girl XXXXX fifteen , with the thoughtful brows and the proudly poised little head , in her place .
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