But I am afraid I let the potatoes burn . '' `` Dinner ! Nobody wants any dinner , Susan , '' said Mrs. Blythe wildly . `` Oh , this thing is unbelievable -- it must be a nightmare . '' `` Paris is lost -- France is lost -- the war is lost , '' gasped Rilla , amid the utter ruins of hope and confidence and belief . `` Oh God -- Oh God , '' moaned Gertrude Oliver , walking about the room and wringing her hands , `` Oh -- God ! '' Nothing else -- no other words -- nothing but that age old plea -- the old , old cry of supreme agony and appeal , from the human heart whose every human staff has failed it . `` Is God dead ? '' asked a startled little voice from the doorway of the living-room . Jims stood there , flushed from sleep , his big brown eyes filled with dread , `` Oh Willa -- oh , Willa , is God dead ? '' Miss Oliver stopped walking and exclaiming , and stared at Jims , in whose eyes tears of fright were beginning to gather . Rilla ran to his comforting , while Susan bounded up from the chair upon which she had dropped . `` No , '' she said briskly , with a sudden return of her real self . `` No , God is n't dead -- nor Lloyd George either . We were forgetting that , Mrs. Dr. dear . Do n't cry , little Kitchener . Bad as things are , they might be worse . The British line may be broken but the British navy is not . Let us tie to that . I will take a brace and get up a bite to eat , for strength we must have . ''
They made a pretence XXXXX eating Susan 's `` bite , '' but it was only a pretence .
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