"I'm afraid not, Susan. Gilbert says there is no hope. He knew from the first the little thing couldn't live."

"Oh—dreams," sighed Anne. "I can't dream now, Captain Jim—I'm done with dreams."

There never was a goose so gray but sometime soon or late
Some honest gander came her way and took her for his mate!

"Oh, I won't mind him. I don't suppose I'll be much in the house anyhow, except for meals. But what a shame it all is! Her life must be a hard one."

"I never was any hand at guessing, Mistress Blythe, and yet somehow when I come in I thought, 'Where have I seen them eyes before?'—for I HAVE seen 'em."

That evening Owen Ford told them that he had finished his book and that his vacation must come to an end.

"It is very hard," said Anne sorrowfully. "We—her friends here—all know how hard it is for her."

"I'm waiting for Gilbert—he's over at the Cove. I intended to stay at the light, but Captain Jim is away."

"Now, Gilbert, you are not 'going off mad.' Sit down here and I'll apologise bee-YEW-ti-fully, I shouldn't have said that. But—oh, if you knew—"

"Oh, Captain Jim, I didn't think you'd say that," she exclaimed reproachfully. "I thought you wouldn't want to make more trouble for her."

"Anne, I'll shake you if you don't grow coherent. Redmond would be ashamed of you. WHAT has happened?"

"Gilbert and Captain Jim are men, and it is through them that the truth has been discovered at last," said Anne.

"It is all so strange and wonderful, Leslie. I think we none of us realise it yet."

"For pity's sake!" said Marilla blankly. "You don't mean to tell me, Gilbert, that it's all over. Why wasn't I called?"

"Dr. Dave never did it. Dr. Blythe will find he is making a mistake, believe ME. Politics is something no decent man should meddle with."

"Well; if she marries Ralph I hope he will be a little more up-and-coming than his brother Billy," mused Anne.

"I'm not going to marry the best man in the world," retorted Miss Cornelia. "Marshall Elliott is a long way from being the best."

The little house of dreams added another poignant and unforgettable moment to its store of memories.

Out on that shining tide his spirit drifted, over the sunrise sea of pearl and silver, to the haven where lost Margaret waited, beyond the storms and calms.

"The old Morgan place up at the Glen is for sale," said Gilbert, apropos of nothing in especial.