The last day of school came and went. A triumphant 'semi-annual examination' was held and Anne’s pupils acquitted themselves splendidly. At the close they gave her an address and a writing desk.
All the girls and ladies present cried, and some of the boys had it cast up to them later on that they cried too, although they always denied it. Mrs. Harmon Andrews, Mrs. Peter Sloane, and Mrs. William Bell walked home together and talked things over.
'I do think it is such a pity Anne is leaving when the children seem so much attached to her,' sighed Mrs. Peter Sloane, who had a habit of sighing over everything and even finished off her jokes that way.
'To be sure,' she added hastily, 'we all know we’ll have a good teacher next year too. ' 'Jane will do her duty, I’ve no doubt,' said Mrs. Andrews rather stiffly.
'I don’t suppose she’ll tell the children quite so many fairy tales or spend so much time roaming about the woods with them. But she has her name on the Inspector’s Roll of Honor and the Newbridge people are in a terrible state over her leaving.
' 'I’m real glad Anne is going to college,' said Mrs. Bell. 'She has always wanted it and it will be a splendid thing for her. ' 'Well, I don’t know. ' Mrs. Andrews was determined not to agree fully with anybody that day.
'I don’t see that Anne needs any more education. She’ll probably be marrying Gilbert Blythe, if his infatuation for her lasts till he gets through college, and what good will Latin and Greek do her then?
If they taught you at college how to manage a man there might be some sense in her going. ' Mrs. Harmon Andrews, so Avonlea gossip whispered, had never learned