He had a perfect right to , of course . Only -- !! Anne did not know that Ruby had written the first letter and that Gilbert had answered it from mere courtesy . She tossed Ruby 's letter aside contemptuously . But it took all Diana 's breezy , newsy , delightful epistle to banish the sting of Ruby 's postscript . Diana 's letter contained a little too much Fred , but was otherwise crowded and crossed with items of interest , and Anne almost felt herself back in Avonlea while reading it . Marilla 's was a rather prim and colorless epistle , severely innocent of gossip or emotion . Yet somehow it conveyed to Anne a whiff of the wholesome , simple life at Green Gables , with its savor of ancient peace , and the steadfast abiding love that was there for her . Mrs. Lynde 's letter was full of church news . Having broken up housekeeping , Mrs. Lynde had more time than ever to devote to church affairs and had flung herself into them heart and soul . She was at present much worked up over the poor `` supplies '' they were having in the vacant Avonlea pulpit . `` I do n't believe any but fools enter the ministry nowadays , '' she wrote bitterly . `` Such candidates as they have sent us , and such stuff as they preach ! Half of it ai n't true , and , what 's worse , it ai n't sound doctrine . The one we have now is the worst of the lot . He mostly takes a text and preaches about something else . And he says he does n't believe all the heathen will be eternally lost . The idea ! If they wo n't all the money we 've been giving to Foreign Missions will be clean wasted , that 's what ! Last Sunday night he announced that next Sunday he 'd preach on the axe-head that swam .
I think he 'd better confine himself XXXXX the Bible and leave sensational subjects alone .
If about for from in of on than to with