He is n't a coward -- he is n't -- he is n't ! '' She looked wistfully about her -- at the little woodland valley and the grey , lonely fallows beyond . How everything reminded her of Walter ! The red leaves still clung to the wild sweet-briars that overhung a curve of the brook ; their stems were gemmed with the pearls of the gentle rain that had fallen a little while before . Walter had once written a poem describing them . The wind was sighing and rustling among the frosted brown bracken ferns , then lessening sorrowfully away down the brook . Walter had said once that he loved the melancholy of the autumn wind on a November day . The old Tree Lovers still clasped each other in a faithful embrace , and the White Lady , now a great white-branched tree , stood out beautifully fine , against the grey velvet sky . Walter had named them long ago ; and last November , when he had walked with her and Miss Oliver in the Valley , he had said , looking at the leafless Lady , with a young silver moon hanging over her , `` A white birch is a beautiful Pagan maiden who has never lost the Eden secret of being naked and unashamed . '' Miss Oliver had said , `` Put that into a poem , Walter , '' and he had done so , and read it to them the next day -- just a short thing with goblin imagination in every line of it . Oh , how happy they had been then ! Well -- Rilla scrambled to her feet -- time was up . Jims would soon be awake -- his lunch had to be prepared -- his little slips had to be ironed -- there was a committee meeting of the Junior Reds that night -- there was her new knitting bag to finish -- it would be the handsomest bag in the Junior Society -- handsomer even than Irene Howard 's -- she must get home and get to work . She was busy these days from morning till night . That little monkey of a Jims took so much time . But he was growing -- he was certainly growing . And there were times when Rilla felt sure that it was not merely a pious hope but an absolute fact that he was getting decidedly better looking . Sometimes she felt quite proud of him ; and sometimes she yearned to spank him . But she never kissed him or wanted to kiss him . `` The Germans captured Lodz today , '' said Miss Oliver , one December evening , when she , Mrs. Blythe , and Susan were busy sewing or knitting in the cosy living-room .
`` This war is XXXXX least extending my knowledge of geography .
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