over it."

Sentiment with a humorous touch to it prevails in the first two
stories of the present book. The one relates to the
disappearance of a valuable white Persian cat with a blue spot in
its tail. "Fatima" is like the apple of her eye to the rich old
aunt who leaves her with two nieces, with a stern injunction not
to let her out of the house. Of course both Sue and Ismay detest
cats; Ismay hates them, Sue loathes them; but Aunt Cynthia's
favor is worth preserving. You become as much interested in
Fatima's fate as if she were your own pet, and the climax is no
less unexpected than it is natural, especially when it is made
also the last act of a pretty comedy of love.

Miss Montgomery delights in depicting the romantic episodes
hidden in the hearts of elderly spinsters as, for instance, in
the case of Charlotte Holmes, whose maid Nancy would have sent
for the doctor and subjected her to a porous plaster while
waiting for him, had she known that up stairs there was a
note-book full of original poems. Rather than bear the stigma
of never having had a love-affair, this sentimental lady
invents one to tell her mocking young friends. The dramatic and
unexpected denouement is delightful fun.

Another note-book reveals a deeper romance in the case of Miss
Emily; this is related by Anne of Green Gables, who once or
twice flashes across the scene, though for the most part her
friends and neighbors at White Sands or Newbridge or Grafton as
well as at Avonlea are the persons involved.