And how manly he looked -- the tall , frank-faced fellow , with the clear , straightforward eyes and the broad shoulders . Anne thought Gilbert was a very handsome lad , even though he did n't look at all like her ideal man . She and Diana had long ago decided what kind of a man they admired and their tastes seemed exactly similar . He must be very tall and distinguished looking , with melancholy , inscrutable eyes , and a melting , sympathetic voice . There was nothing either melancholy or inscrutable in Gilbert 's physiognomy , but of course that did n't matter in friendship ! Gilbert stretched himself out on the ferns beside the Bubble and looked approvingly at Anne . If Gilbert had been asked to describe his ideal woman the description would have answered point for point to Anne , even to those seven tiny freckles whose obnoxious presence still continued to vex her soul . Gilbert was as yet little more than a boy ; but a boy has his dreams as have others , and in Gilbert 's future there was always a girl with big , limpid gray eyes , and a face as fine and delicate as a flower . He had made up his mind , also , that his future must be worthy of its goddess . Even in quiet Avonlea there were temptations to be met and faced . White Sands youth were a rather `` fast '' set , and Gilbert was popular wherever he went . But he meant to keep himself worthy of Anne 's friendship and perhaps some distant day her love ; and he watched over word and thought and deed as jealously as if her clear eyes were to pass in judgment on it . She held over him the unconscious influence that every girl , whose ideals are high and pure , wields over her friends ; an influence which would endure as long as she was faithful to those ideals and which she would as certainly lose if she were ever false to them . In Gilbert 's eyes Anne 's greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls -- the small jealousies , the little deceits and rivalries , the palpable bids for favor . Anne held herself apart from all this , not consciously or of design , but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent , impulsive nature , crystal clear in its motives and aspirations . But Gilbert did not attempt to put his thoughts into words , for he had already too good reason to know that Anne would mercilessly and frostily nip all attempts at sentiment in the bud -- or laugh at him , which was ten times worse . `` You look like a real dryad under that birch tree , '' he said teasingly . `` I love birch trees , '' said Anne , laying her cheek against the creamy satin of the slim bole , with one of the pretty , caressing gestures that came so natural to her . `` Then you 'll be glad to hear that Mr. Major Spencer has decided to set out a row of white birches all along the road front of his farm , by way of encouraging the A.V.I.S. , '' said Gilbert . `` He was talking to me about it today .
Major Spencer is the most progressive and public-spirited man XXXXX Avonlea .
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