munched the offerings of cracked nuts, or of the treasured English
apples which had been brought from the farm and kept like a squirrel's
hoard in an archway of the cellar by themselves. Nan cherished an idea
of going back to the farm to live by herself as soon as she grew a
little older, and she indulged in pleasing day-dreams of a most
charming life there, with frequent entertainments for her friends, at
which the author of the information about the moon would be the
favored guest, and Nan herself, in a most childish and provincial
fashion, the reigning queen. What did these new town-acquaintances
know of the strawberries which grew in the bit of meadow, or the great
high-bush blackberries by one of the pasture walls, and what would
their pleasure be when they were taken down the river some moonlight
night and caught sight of a fire blazing on a distant bank, and went
nearer to find a sumptuous feast which Nan herself had arranged? She
had been told that her aunt--that mysterious and beneficent aunt--had
already sent her money which was lying idle in the bank until she
should need to spend it, and her imaginary riches increased week by
week, while her horizon of future happiness constantly grew wider.

The other children were not unwilling at first to enter upon an
inquisitive friendship with the new-comer; but Marilla was so
uncongenial to the noisy visitors, and so fastidious in the matter of
snowy and muddy shoes, that she was soon avoided. Nan herself was a
teachable child and gave little trouble, and Marilla sometimes
congratulated herself because she had reserved the violent objections
which had occurred to her mind when the doctor had announced, just
before Mrs. Thacher's death, that his ward would henceforth find a
home in his house.

Marilla usually sat in the dining-room in the evening, though she was