`` Well , some people call it religion and some call it cussedness , begging your pardon , Mrs. Dr. dear , for using such a word . It seems they can not make out which it is in Harrison 's case . There are days when he growls at everybody because he thinks he is fore-ordained to eternal punishment . And then there are days when he says he does not care and goes and gets drunk . My own opinion is that he is not sound in his intellect , for none of that branch of the Millers were . His grandfather went out of his mind . He thought he was surrounded by big black spiders . They crawled over him and floated in the air about him . I hope I shall never go insane , Mrs. Dr. dear , and I do not think I will , because it is not a habit of the Bakers . But , if an all-wise Providence should decree it , I hope it will not take the form of big black spiders , for I loathe the animals . As for Mrs. Miller , I do not know whether she really deserves pity or not . There are some who say she just married Harrison to spite Richard Taylor , which seems to me a very peculiar reason for getting married . But then , of course , I am no judge of things matrimonial , Mrs. Dr. dear . And there is Cornelia Bryant at the gate , so I will put this blessed brown baby on his bed and get my knitting . '' CHAPTER II . SHEER GOSSIP `` Where are the other children ? '' asked Miss Cornelia , when the first greetings -- cordial on her side , rapturous on Anne 's , and dignified on Susan 's -- were over . `` Shirley is in bed and Jem and Walter and the twins are down in their beloved Rainbow Valley , '' said Anne . `` They just came home this afternoon , you know , and they could hardly wait until supper was over before rushing down to the valley . They love it above every spot on earth .
Even the maple grove does n't rival it XXXXX their affections . ''
above at because by for if in of that until