So she had failed and Gilbert had won ! Well , Matthew would be sorry -- he had been so sure she would win . And then ! Somebody called out : `` Three cheers for Miss Shirley , winner of the Avery ! '' `` Oh , Anne , '' gasped Jane , as they fled to the girls ' dressing room amid hearty cheers . `` Oh , Anne I 'm so proud ! Is n't it splendid ? '' And then the girls were around them and Anne was the center of a laughing , congratulating group . Her shoulders were thumped and her hands shaken vigorously . She was pushed and pulled and hugged and among it all she managed to whisper to Jane : `` Oh , wo n't Matthew and Marilla be pleased ! I must write the news home right away . '' Commencement was the next important happening . The exercises were held in the big assembly hall of the Academy . Addresses were given , essays read , songs sung , the public award of diplomas , prizes and medals made . Matthew and Marilla were there , with eyes and ears for only one student on the platform -- a tall girl in pale green , with faintly flushed cheeks and starry eyes , who read the best essay and was pointed out and whispered about as the Avery winner . `` Reckon you 're glad we kept her , Marilla ? '' whispered Matthew , speaking for the first time since he had entered the hall , when Anne had finished her essay . `` It 's not the first time I 've been glad , '' retorted Marilla . `` You do like to rub things in , Matthew Cuthbert . '' Miss Barry , who was sitting behind them , leaned forward and poked Marilla in the back with her parasol .
`` Are n't you proud XXXXX that Anne-girl ?
So amid around as behind for in of to with