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Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942

"Rilla of Ingleside"

He must have done better than I've been led to believe,
when they can afford furniture like this. I'm awfully glad for Hannah's
sake."
The thunderstorm passed, but the rain continued to fall heavily. At
eleven o'clock Rilla decided that nobody was coming home. Jims had
fallen asleep on the sofa; she carried him up to the spare room and put
him to bed. Then she undressed, put on a nightgown she found in the
washstand drawer, and scrambled sleepily in between very nice
lavender-scented sheets. She was so tired, after her adventures and
exertions, that not even the oddity of her situation could keep her
awake; she was sound asleep in a few minutes.
Rilla slept until eight o'clock the next morning and then wakened with
startling suddenness. Somebody was saying in a harsh, gruff voice,
"Here, you two, wake up. I want to know what this means."
Rilla did wake up, promptly and effectually. She had never in all her
life wakened up so thoroughly before. Standing in the room were three
people, one of them a man, who were absolute strangers to her. The man
was a big fellow with a bushy black beard and an angry scowl. Beside him
was a woman--a tall, thin, angular person, with violently red hair and
an indescribable hat. She looked even crosser and more amazed than the
man, if that were possible. In the background was another woman--a tiny
old lady who must have been at least eighty.


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