I think of her , back there in her little garden in that cool , still , green corner ; and I have a fancy that if I could steal back there some spring evening , just at the magic time ` twixt light and dark , and tiptoe so softly up the beech hill that my footsteps could not frighten her , I would find the garden just as it used to be , all sweet with June lilies and early roses , with the tiny house beyond it all hung with vines ; and little Hester Gray would be there , with her soft eyes , and the wind ruffling her dark hair , wandering about , putting her fingertips under the chins of the lilies and whispering secrets with the roses ; and I would go forward , oh , so softly , and hold out my hands and say to her , ` Little Hester Gray , wo n't you let me be your playmate , for I love the roses too ? ' And we would sit down on the old bench and talk a little and dream a little , or just be beautifully silent together . And then the moon would rise and I would look around me ... and there would be no Hester Gray and no little vine-hung house , and no roses ... only an old waste garden starred with June lilies amid the grasses , and the wind sighing , oh , so sorrowfully in the cherry trees . And I would not know whether it had been real or if I had just imagined it all . '' Diana crawled up and got her back against the headboard of the bed . When your companion of twilight hour said such spooky things it was just as well not to be able to fancy there was anything behind you . `` I 'm afraid the Improvement Society will go down when you and Gilbert are both gone , '' she remarked dolefully . `` Not a bit of fear of it , '' said Anne briskly , coming back from dreamland to the affairs of practical life . `` It is too firmly established for that , especially since the older people are becoming so enthusiastic about it . Look what they are doing this summer for their lawns and lanes . Besides , I 'll be watching for hints at Redmond and I 'll write a paper for it next winter and send it over . Do n't take such a gloomy view of things , Diana . And do n't grudge me my little hour of gladness and jubilation now . Later on , when I have to go away , I 'll feel anything but glad . '' `` It 's all right for you to be glad ... you 're going to college and you 'll have a jolly time and make heaps of lovely new friends . '' `` I hope I shall make new friends , '' said Anne thoughtfully . `` The possibilities of making new friends help to make life very fascinating . But no matter how many friends I make they 'll never be as dear to me as the old ones ... especially a certain girl with black eyes and dimples . Can you guess who she is , Diana ? '' `` But there 'll be so many clever girls at Redmond , '' sighed Diana , `` and I 'm only a stupid little country girl who says ' I seen ' sometimes ... though I really know better when I stop to think .
Well , of course these past two years have really been too pleasant XXXXX last .
about against as for if in since to whether with