Joe , with an agonized glance at St. Clair , went to the stove , opened the big , square front door , and threw the blue and white parcel in , before St. Clair , who had sprung to his feet , could utter a word . Then he dodged back just in time . For a few moments the terrified occupants of Avonlea school did not know whether it was an earthquake or a volcanic explosion that had occurred . The innocent looking parcel which Anne had rashly supposed to contain Mrs. Hiram 's nut cakes really held an assortment of firecrackers and pinwheels for which Warren Sloane had sent to town by St. Clair Donnell 's father the day before , intending to have a birthday celebration that evening . The crackers went off in a thunderclap of noise and the pinwheels bursting out of the door spun madly around the room , hissing and spluttering . Anne dropped into her chair white with dismay and all the girls climbed shrieking upon their desks . Joe Sloane stood as one transfixed in the midst of the commotion and St. Clair , helpless with laughter , rocked to and fro in the aisle . Prillie Rogerson fainted and Annetta Bell went into hysterics . It seemed a long time , although it was really only a few minutes , before the last pinwheel subsided . Anne , recovering herself , sprang to open doors and windows and let out the gas and smoke which filled the room . Then she helped the girls carry the unconscious Prillie into the porch , where Barbara Shaw , in an agony of desire to be useful , poured a pailful of half frozen water over Prillie 's face and shoulders before anyone could stop her . It was a full hour before quiet was restored ... but it was a quiet that might be felt . Everybody realized that even the explosion had not cleared the teacher 's mental atmosphere . Nobody , except Anthony Pye , dared whisper a word . Ned Clay accidentally squeaked his pencil while working a sum , caught Anne 's eye and wished the floor would open and swallow him up . The geography class were whisked through a continent with a speed that made them dizzy . The grammar class were parsed and analyzed within an inch of their lives . Chester Sloane , spelling `` odoriferous '' with two f 's , was made to feel that he could never live down the disgrace of it , either in this world or that which is to come . Anne knew that she had made herself ridiculous and that the incident would be laughed over that night at a score of tea-tables , but the knowledge only angered her further . In a calmer mood she could have carried off the situation with a laugh but now that was impossible ; so she ignored it in icy disdain .
When Anne returned to the school after dinner all the children were as usual in their seats and every face was bent studiously XXXXX a desk except Anthony Pye 's .
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