"Oh, let me work--let me work, Gilbert," she entreated feverishly.
"While I'm working I don't think so much. If I'm idle I imagine
everything--rest is only torture for me. My two boys are on the
frightful Somme front--and Shirley pores day and night over aviation
literature and says nothing. But I see the purpose growing in his eyes.
No, I cannot rest--don't ask it of me, Gilbert."
But the doctor was inexorable.
"I can't let you kill yourself, Anne-girl," he said. "When the boys come
back I want a mother here to welcome them. Why, you're getting
transparent. It won't do--ask Susan there if it will do."
"Oh, if Susan and you are both banded together against me!" said Anne
helplessly.
One day the glorious news came that the Canadians had taken Courcelette
and Martenpuich, with many prisoners and guns. Susan ran up the flag and
said it was plain to be seen that Haig knew what soldiers to pick for a
hard job. The others dared not feel exultant. Who knew what price had
been paid?
Rilla woke that morning when the dawn was beginning to break and went to
her window to look out, her thick creamy eyelids heavy with sleep. Just
at dawn the world looks as it never looks at any other time. The air was
cold with dew and the orchard and grove and Rainbow Valley were full of
mystery and wonder. Over the eastern hill were golden deeps and
silvery-pink shallows.
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