The flat drifted under the bridge and then promptly sank in midstream . Ruby , Jane , and Diana , already awaiting it on the lower headland , saw it disappear before their very eyes and had not a doubt but that Anne had gone down with it . For a moment they stood still , white as sheets , frozen with horror at the tragedy ; then , shrieking at the tops of their voices , they started on a frantic run up through the woods , never pausing as they crossed the main road to glance the way of the bridge . Anne , clinging desperately to her precarious foothold , saw their flying forms and heard their shrieks . Help would soon come , but meanwhile her position was a very uncomfortable one . The minutes passed by , each seeming an hour to the unfortunate lily maid . Why did n't somebody come ? Where had the girls gone ? Suppose they had fainted , one and all ! Suppose nobody ever came ! Suppose she grew so tired and cramped that she could hold on no longer ! Anne looked at the wicked green depths below her , wavering with long , oily shadows , and shivered . Her imagination began to suggest all manner of gruesome possibilities to her . Then , just as she thought she really could not endure the ache in her arms and wrists another moment , Gilbert Blythe came rowing under the bridge in Harmon Andrews 's dory ! Gilbert glanced up and , much to his amazement , beheld a little white scornful face looking down upon him with big , frightened but also scornful gray eyes . `` Anne Shirley ! How on earth did you get there ? '' he exclaimed . Without waiting for an answer he pulled close to the pile and extended his hand . There was no help for it ; Anne , clinging to Gilbert Blythe 's hand , scrambled down into the dory , where she sat , drabbled and furious , in the stern with her arms full of dripping shawl and wet crepe .
It was certainly extremely difficult XXXXX be dignified under the circumstances !
For as at before below in into of to upon