Chapter XXV - Page 2

wise, inscrutable motive was to be
served thereby. But surely it would do no harm to let the child
have one pretty dress--something like Diana Barry always wore.
Matthew decided that he would give her one; that surely could
not be objected to as an unwarranted putting in of his oar.
Christmas was only a fortnight off. A nice new dress would be
the very thing for a present. Matthew, with a sigh of
satisfaction, put away his pipe and went to bed, while Marilla
opened all the doors and aired the house.

The very next evening Matthew betook himself to Carmody to buy
the dress, determined to get the worst over and have done with it.
It would be, he felt assured, no trifling ordeal. There were some
things Matthew could buy and prove himself no mean bargainer;
but he knew he would be at the mercy of shopkeepers when it came
to buying a girl's dress.

After much cogitation Matthew resolved to go to Samuel Lawson's
store instead of William Blair's. To be sure, the Cuthberts
always had gone to William Blair's; it was almost as much a
matter of conscience with them as to attend the Presbyterian
church and vote Conservative. But William Blair's two daughters
frequently waited on customers there and Matthew held them in
absolute dread. He could contrive to deal with them when he knew
exactly what he wanted and could point it out; but in such a
matter as this, requiring explanation and consultation, Matthew
felt that he must be sure of a man behind the counter. So he
would go to Lawson's, where Samuel or his son would wait on him.

Alas! Matthew did not know that Samuel, in the recent expansion
of his business, had set up a lady clerk also; she was a niece of
his wife's and a very dashing young person indeed, with a huge,
drooping pompadour, big, rolling brown eyes, and a most extensive
and bewildering smile. She was dressed with exceeding smartness
and wore several bangle bracelets that glittered and rattled and
tinkled with every movement of her hands. Matthew was covered
with confusion at finding her there at all; and those bangles
completely wrecked his wits at one fell swoop.

"What can I do for you this evening, Mr. Cuthbert?" Miss Lucilla
Harris inquired, briskly and ingratiatingly, tapping the counter
with both hands.

"Have you any--any--any--well now, say any garden rakes?"
stammered Matthew.

Miss Harris looked somewhat surprised, as well she might, to hear
a man inquiring for garden rakes in the middle of December.

"I believe we have one or two left over," she said, "but they're
upstairs in the lumber room. I'll go and see." During her
absence Matthew collected his scattered senses for another effort.

When Miss Harris returned with the rake and