Poor little girlie , it 's a bit hard for you all round . Well , I 'm not leaving any girl to break her heart about me -- thank God for that . '' Rilla glanced up at the Manse on the hill . She could see a light in Una Meredith 's window . She felt tempted to say something -- then she knew she must not . It was not her secret : and , anyway , she did not know -- she only suspected . Walter looked about him lingeringly and lovingly . This spot had always been so dear to him . What fun they all had had here lang syne . Phantoms of memory seemed to pace the dappled paths and peep merrily through the swinging boughs -- Jem and Jerry , bare-legged , sunburned schoolboys , fishing in the brook and frying trout over the old stone fireplace ; Nan and Di and Faith , in their dimpled , fresh-eyed childish beauty ; Una the sweet and shy , Carl , poring over ants and bugs , little slangy , sharp-tongued , good-hearted Mary Vance -- the old Walter that had been himself lying on the grass reading poetry or wandering through palaces of fancy . They were all there around him -- he could see them almost as plainly as he saw Rilla -- as plainly as he had once seen the Pied Piper piping down the valley in a vanished twilight . And they said to him , those gay little ghosts of other days , `` We were the children of yesterday , Walter -- fight a good fight for the children of to-day and to-morrow . '' `` Where are you , Walter , '' cried Rilla , laughing a little . `` Come back -- come back . '' Walter came back with a long breath . He stood up and looked about him at the beautiful valley of moonlight , as if to impress on his mind and heart every charm it possessed -- the great dark plumes of the firs against the silvery sky , the stately White Lady , the old magic of the dancing brook , the faithful Tree Lovers , the beckoning , tricksy paths . `` I shall see it so in my dreams , '' he said , as he turned away . They went back to Ingleside . Mr. and Mrs. Meredith were there , with Gertrude Oliver , who had come from Lowbridge to say good-bye . Everybody was quite cheerful and bright , but nobody said much about the war being soon over , as they had said when Jem went away .
They did not talk about the war XXXXX all -- and they thought of nothing else .
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