When I was a girl I was n't afraid of nothing nor nobody . Mind you take good care of that boy . He ai n't any common child . And make Robert drive round all the puddles in the road . I wo n't have that new buggy splashed . '' As they drove away Jims threw kisses at Mrs. Matilda Pitman as long as he could see her , and Mrs. Matilda Pitman waved her sock back at him . Robert spoke no word , either good or bad , all the way to the station , but he remembered the puddles . When Rilla got out at the siding she thanked him courteously . The only response she got was a grunt as Robert turned his horse and started for home . `` Well '' -- Rilla drew a long breath -- `` I must try to get back into Rilla Blythe again . I 've been somebody else these past few hours -- I do n't know just who -- some creation of that extraordinary old person 's . I believe she hypnotized me . What an adventure this will be to write the boys . '' And then she sighed . Bitter remembrance came that there were only Jerry , Ken , Carl and Shirley to write it to now . Jem -- who would have appreciated Mrs. Matilda Pitman keenly -- where was Jem ? CHAPTER XXXII WORD FROM JEM 4th August 1918 `` It is four years tonight since the dance at the lighthouse -- four years of war . It seems like three times four . I was fifteen then . I am nineteen now .
I expected that these past four years would be the most delightful years of my life and they have been years of war -- years of fear and grief and worry -- but I humbly hope , XXXXX a little growth in strength and character as well .
As FROM at in into like of since that to