vers' Lane before you go in?" asked Gilbert
as they crossed the bridge over the Lake of Shining Waters, in which the
moon lay like a great, drowned blossom of gold.

Anne assented readily. Lovers' Lane was a veritable path in a fairyland
that night--a shimmering, mysterious place, full of wizardry in the
white-woven enchantment of moonlight. There had been a time when such
a walk with Gilbert through Lovers' Lane would have been far too
dangerous. But Roy and Christine had made it very safe now. Anne found
herself thinking a good deal about Christine as she chatted lightly to
Gilbert. She had met her several times before leaving Kingsport, and had
been charmingly sweet to her. Christine had also been charmingly
sweet. Indeed, they were a most cordial pair. But for all that, their
acquaintance had not ripened into friendship. Evidently Christine was
not a kindred spirit.

"Are you going to be in Avonlea all summer?" asked Gilbert.

"No. I'm going down east to Valley Road next week. Esther Haythorne
wants me to teach for her through July and August. They have a summer
term in that school, and Esther isn't feeling well. So I'm going to
substitute for her. In one way I don't mind. Do you know, I'm beginning
to feel a little bit like a stranger in Avonlea now? It makes me
sorry--but it's true. It's quite appalling to see the number of
children who have shot up into big boys and girls--really young men and
women--these past two years. Half of my pupils are grown up. It makes me
feel awfully old to see them in the places you and I and our mates used
to fill."

Anne laughed and sighed. She felt very old and mature and wise--which
showed how young she was. She told herself that she longed greatly to go
back to those dear merry days when life was seen through a rosy mist
of hope and illusion, and possessed an indefinable something that had
passed away forever. Where was it now--the glory and the dream?

"'So wags the world away,'" quoted Gilbert practically, and a trifle
absently. Anne wondered if he were thinking of Christine. Oh, Avonlea
was going to be so lonely now--with Diana gone!

Chapter XXX

Mrs. Skinner's Romance

Anne stepped off the train at Valley Road station and looked about to
see if any one had come to meet her. She was to board with a certain
Miss Janet Sweet, but she saw no one who answered in the least to her
preconception of that lady, as formed from Esther's letter. The only
person in sight