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1MATTHEW was having a bad ten minutes of it. He had come into the kitchen, in the twilight of a cold, gray December
2evening, and had sat down in the woodbox corner to take off his heavy boots, unconscious of the fact that Anne and a
3bevy of her schoolmates were having a practice of "The Fairy Queen" in the sitting room. Presently they came trooping
4through the hall and out into the kitchen, laughing and chattering gaily. They did not see Matthew, who shrank bashfully
5back into the shadows beyond the woodbox with a boot in one hand and a bootjack in the other, and he watched them shyly
6for the aforesaid ten minutes as they put on caps and jackets and talked about the dialogue and the concert. Anne stood
7among them, bright eyed and animated as they; but Matthew suddenly became conscious that there was something about her
8different from her mates. And what worried Matthew was that the difference impressed him as being something that should
9not exist. Anne had a brighter face, and bigger, starrier eyes, and more delicate features than the other; even shy,
10unobservant Matthew had learned to take note of these things; but the difference that disturbed him did not consist in
11any of these respects. Then in what did it consist? Matthew was haunted by this question long after the girls had gone,
12arm in arm, down the long, hard-frozen lane and Anne had betaken herself to her books. He could not refer it to Marilla,
13who, he felt, would be quite sure to sniff scornfully and remark that the only difference she saw between Anne and the
14other girls was that they sometimes kept their tongues quiet while Anne never did. This, Matthew felt, would be no great
15help. He had recourse to his pipe that evening to help him study it out, much to Marilla's disgust. After two hours of
16smoking and hard reflection Matthew arrived at a solution of his problem. Anne was not dressed like the other girls! The
17more Matthew thought about the matter the more he was convinced that Anne never had been dressed like the other
18girls--never since she had come to Green Gables. Marilla kept her clothed in plain, dark dresses, all made after the
19same unvarying pattern. If Matthew knew there was such a thing as fashion in dress it was as much as he did; but he was
20quite sure that Anne's sleeves did not look at all like the sleeves the other girls wore. He recalled the cluster of
21little girls he had seen around her that evening--all gay in waists of red and blue and pink and white--and he wondered
22why Marilla always kept her so plainly and soberly gowned. Of course, it must be all right. Marilla knew best and
23Marilla was bringing her up. Probably some wise, inscrutable motive was to be served thereby. But surely it would do no
24harm to let the child have one pretty dress--something like Diana Barry always wore. Matthew decided that he would give
25her one; that surely could not be objected to as an unwarranted putting in of his oar. Christmas was only a fortnight
26off. A nice new dress would be the very thing for a present. Matthew, with a sigh of satisfaction, put away his pipe and
27went to bed, while Marilla opened all the doors and aired the house. The very next evening Matthew betook himself to
28Carmody to buy the dress, determined to get the worst over and have done with it. It would be, he felt assured, no
29trifling ordeal. There were some things Matthew could buy and prove himself no mean bargainer; but he knew he would be
30at the mercy of shopkeepers when it came to buying a girl's dress. After much cogitation Matthew resolved to go to
31Samuel Lawson's store instead of William Blair's. To be sure, the Cuthberts always had gone to William Blair's; it was
32almost as much a matter of conscience with them as to attend the Presbyterian church and vote Conservative. But William
33Blair's two daughters frequently waited on customers there and Matthew held them in absolute dread. He could contrive to
34deal with them when he knew exactly what he wanted and could point it out; but in such a matter as this, requiring
35explanation and consultation, Matthew felt that he must be sure of a man behind the counter. So he would go to Lawson's,
36where Samuel or his son would wait on him. Alas! Matthew did not know that Samuel, in the recent expansion of his
37business, had set up a lady clerk also; she was a niece of his wife's and a very dashing young person indeed, with a
38huge, drooping pompadour, big, rolling brown eyes, and a most extensive and bewildering smile. She was dressed with
39exceeding smartness and wore several bangle bracelets that glittered and rattled and tinkled with every movement of her
40hands. Matthew was covered with confusion at finding her there at all; and those bangles completely wrecked his wits at
41one fell swoop. "What can I do for you this evening, Mr. Cuthbert?" Miss Lucilla Harris inquired, briskly and
42ingratiatingly, tapping the counter with both hands. "Have you any--any--any--well now, say any garden rakes?" stammered
43Matthew. Miss Harris looked somewhat surprised, as well she might, to hear a man inquiring for garden rakes in the
44middle of December. "I believe we have one or two left over," she said, "but they're upstairs in the lumber room. I'll
45go and see." During her absence Matthew collected his scattered senses for another effort. When Miss Harris returned
46with the rake and cheerfully inquired: "Anything else tonight, Mr. Cuthbert?" Matthew took his courage in both hands and
47replied: "Well now, since you suggest it, I might as well--take--that is--look at--buy some--some hayseed." Miss Harris
48had heard Matthew Cuthbert called odd. She now concluded that he was entirely crazy. "We only keep hayseed in the
49spring," she explained loftily. "We've none on hand just now." "Oh, certainly--certainly--just as you say," stammered
50unhappy Matthew, seizing the rake and making for the door. At the threshold he recollected that he had not paid for it
51and he turned miserably back. While Miss Harris was counting out his change he rallied his powers for a final desperate
52attempt. "Well now--if it isn't too much trouble--I might as well--that is--I'd like to look at--at--some sugar." "White
53or brown?" queried Miss Harris patiently. "Oh--well now--brown," said Matthew feebly. "There's a barrel of it over
54there," said Miss Harris, shaking her bangles at it. "It's the only kind we have." "I'll--I'll take twenty pounds of
55it," said Matthew, with beads of perspiration standing on his forehead. Matthew had driven halfway home before he was
56his own man again. It had been a gruesome experience, but it served him right, he thought, for committing the heresy of
57going to a strange store. When he reached home he hid the rake in the tool house, but the sugar he carried in to
58Marilla. "Brown sugar!" exclaimed Marilla. "Whatever possessed you to get so much? You know I never use it except for
59the hired man's porridge or black fruit cake. Jerry's gone and I've made my cake long ago. It's not good sugar,
60either--it's coarse and dark--William Blair doesn't usually keep sugar like that." "I--I thought it might come in handy
61sometime," said Matthew, making good his escape. When Matthew came to think the matter over he decided that a woman was
62required to cope with the situation. Marilla was out of the question. Matthew felt sure she would throw cold water on
63his project at once. Remained only Mrs. Lynde; for of no other woman in Avonlea would Matthew have dared to ask advice.
64To Mrs. Lynde he went accordingly, and that good lady promptly took the matter out of the harassed man's hands. "Pick
65out a dress for you to give Anne? To be sure I will. I'm going to Carmody tomorrow and I'll attend to it. Have you
66something particular in mind? No? Well, I'll just go by my own judgment then. I believe a nice rich brown would just
67suit Anne, and William Blair has some new gloria in that's real pretty. Perhaps you'd like me to make it up for her,
68too, seeing that if Marilla was to make it Anne would probably get wind of it before the time and spoil the surprise?
69Well, I'll do it. No, it isn't a mite of trouble. I like sewing. I'll make it to fit my niece, Jenny Gillis, for she and
70Anne are as like as two peas as far as figure goes." "Well now, I'm much obliged," said Matthew, "and--and--I dunno--but
71I'd like--I think they make the sleeves different nowadays to what they used to be. If it wouldn't be asking too much
72I--I'd like them made in the new way."
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