Well , I 'm sorry for that poor young one and no mistake . Matthew and Marilla do n't know anything about children and they 'll expect him to be wiser and steadier that his own grandfather , if so be 's he ever had a grandfather , which is doubtful . It seems uncanny to think of a child at Green Gables somehow ; there 's never been one there , for Matthew and Marilla were grown up when the new house was built -- if they ever WERE children , which is hard to believe when one looks at them . I would n't be in that orphan 's shoes for anything . My , but I pity him , that 's what . '' So said Mrs. Rachel to the wild rose bushes out of the fulness of her heart ; but if she could have seen the child who was waiting patiently at the Bright River station at that very moment her pity would have been still deeper and more profound . CHAPTER II . Matthew Cuthbert is surprised Matthew Cuthbert and the sorrel mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles to Bright River . It was a pretty road , running along between snug farmsteads , with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through or a hollow where wild plums hung out their filmy bloom . The air was sweet with the breath of many apple orchards and the meadows sloped away in the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple ; while `` The little birds sang as if it were The one day of summer in all the year . '' Matthew enjoyed the drive after his own fashion , except during the moments when he met women and had to nod to them -- for in Prince Edward island you are supposed to nod to all and sundry you meet on the road whether you know them or not . Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel ; he had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him . He may have been quite right in thinking so , for he was an odd-looking personage , with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray hair that touched his stooping shoulders , and a full , soft brown beard which he had worn ever since he was twenty . In fact , he had looked at twenty very much as he looked at sixty , lacking a little of the grayness . When he reached Bright River there was no sign of any train ; he thought he was too early , so he tied his horse in the yard of the small Bright River hotel and went over to the station house . The long platform was almost deserted ; the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting on a pile of shingles at the extreme end . Matthew , barely noting that it WAS a girl , sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at her . Had he looked he could hardly have failed to notice the tense rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression . She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and , since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then , she sat and waited with all her might and main . Matthew encountered the stationmaster locking up the ticket office preparatory to going home for supper , and asked him if the five-thirty train would soon be along .
`` The five-thirty train has been XXXXX and gone half an hour ago , '' answered that brisk official .
about after if in of over past so that with