The two cousins were the same age to a day , and it was a family joke among the Monroes that the stork must have mixed the babies , since Ralph 's son was like Malcolm in face and brain , while Malcolm 's boy was a second edition of his uncle Ralph . To crown all , Aunt Isabel came , too -- a talkative , clever , shrewd old lady , as young at eighty-five as she had been at thirty , thinking the Monroe stock the best in the world , and beamingly proud of her nephews and nieces , who had gone out from this humble , little farm to destinies of such brilliance and influence in the world beyond . I have forgotten Robert . Robert Monroe was apt to be forgotten . Although he was the oldest of the family , White Sands people , in naming over the various members of the Monroe family , would add , `` and Robert , '' in a tone of surprise over the remembrance of his existence . He lived on a poor , sandy little farm down by the shore , but he had come up to James ' place on the evening when the guests arrived ; they had all greeted him warmly and joyously , and then did not think about him again in their laughter and conversation . Robert sat back in a corner and listened with a smile , but he never spoke . Afterwards he had slipped noiselessly away and gone home , and nobody noticed his going . They were all gayly busy recalling what had happened in the old times and telling what had happened in the new . Edith recounted the successes of her concert tours ; Malcolm expatiated proudly on his plans for developing his beloved college ; Ralph described the country through which his new railroad ran , and the difficulties he had had to overcome in connection with it . James , aside , discussed his orchard and his crops with Margaret , who had not been long enough away from the farm to lose touch with its interests . Aunt Isabel knitted and smiled complacently on all , talking now with one , now with the other , secretly quite proud of herself that she , an old woman of eighty-five , who had seldom been out of White Sands in her life , could discuss high finance with Ralph , and higher education with Malcolm , and hold her own with James in an argument on drainage . The White Sands school teacher , an arch-eyed , red-mouthed bit a girl -- a Bell from Avonlea -- who boarded with the James Monroes , amused herself with the boys . All were enjoying themselves hugely , so it is not to be wondered at that they did not miss Robert , who had gone home early because his old housekeeper was nervous if left alone at night . He came again the next afternoon . From James , in the barnyard , he learned that Malcolm and Ralph had driven to the harbor , that Margaret and Mrs. James had gone to call on friends in Avonlea , and that Edith was walking somewhere in the woods on the hill . There was nobody in the house except Aunt Isabel and the teacher . `` You 'd better wait and stay the evening , '' said James , indifferently . `` They 'll all be back soon . '' Robert went across the yard and sat down on the rustic bench in the angle of the front porch .
It was a fine December evening , XXXXX mild as autumn ; there had been no snow , and the long fields , sloping down from the homestead , were brown and mellow .
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