`` He IS N'T shy , believe ME , '' retorted Miss Cornelia . `` Absent-minded , -- yes -- but shy , no . And for all he is so abstracted and dreamy he has a very good opinion of himself , man-like , and when he is really awake he would n't think it much of a chore to ask any woman to have him . No , the trouble is , he 's deluding himself into believing that his heart is buried , while all the time it 's beating away inside of him just like anybody else 's . He may have a notion of Rosemary West and he may not . If he has , we must make the best of it . She is a sweet girl and a fine housekeeper , and would make a good mother for those poor , neglected children . And , '' concluded Miss Cornelia resignedly , `` my own grandmother was an Episcopalian . '' CHAPTER XVIII . MARY BRINGS EVIL TIDINGS Mary Vance , whom Mrs. Elliott had sent up to the manse on an errand , came tripping down Rainbow Valley on her way to Ingleside where she was to spend the afternoon with Nan and Di as a Saturday treat . Nan and Di had been picking spruce gum with Faith and Una in the manse woods and the four of them were now sitting on a fallen pine by the brook , all , it must be admitted , chewing rather vigorously . The Ingleside twins were not allowed to chew spruce gum anywhere but in the seclusion of Rainbow Valley , but Faith and Una were unrestricted by such rules of etiquette and cheerfully chewed it everywhere , at home and abroad , to the very proper horror of the Glen . Faith had been chewing it in church one day ; but Jerry had realized the enormity of THAT , and had given her such an older-brotherly scolding that she never did it again . `` I was so hungry I just felt as if I had to chew something , '' she protested . `` You know well enough what breakfast was like , Jerry Meredith . I COULD N'T eat scorched porridge and my stomach just felt so queer and empty . The gum helped a lot -- and I did n't chew VERY hard . I did n't make any noise and I never cracked the gum once . '' `` You must n't chew gum in church , anyhow , '' insisted Jerry . `` Do n't let me catch you at it again . ''
`` You chewed yourself XXXXX prayer-meeting last week , '' cried Faith .
If as at for in like on that to with