nd hand in hand they stepped over the
threshold of their house of dreams.

CHAPTER 6

CAPTAIN JIM

"Old Doctor Dave" and "Mrs. Doctor Dave" had come down to the little
house to greet the bride and groom. Doctor Dave was a big, jolly,
white-whiskered old fellow, and Mrs. Doctor was a trim rosy-cheeked,
silver-haired little lady who took Anne at once to her heart, literally
and figuratively.

"I'm so glad to see you, dear. You must be real tired. We've got a
bite of supper ready, and Captain Jim brought up some trout for you.
Captain Jim--where are you? Oh, he's slipped out to see to the horse,
I suppose. Come upstairs and take your things off."

Anne looked about her with bright, appreciative eyes as she followed
Mrs. Doctor Dave upstairs. She liked the appearance of her new home
very much. It seemed to have the atmosphere of Green Gables and the
flavor of her old traditions.

"I think I would have found Miss Elizabeth Russell a 'kindred spirit,'"
she murmured when she was alone in her room. There were two windows in
it; the dormer one looked out on the lower harbor and the sand-bar and
the Four Winds light.

"A magic casement opening on the foam
Of perilous seas in fairy lands forlorn,"

quoted Anne softly. The gable window gave a view of a little
harvest-hued valley through which a brook ran. Half a mile up the
brook was the only house in sight--an old, rambling, gray one
surrounded by huge willows through which its windows peered, like shy,
seeking eyes, into the dusk. Anne wondered who lived there; they would
be her nearest neighbors and she hoped they would be nice. She
suddenly found herself thinking of the beautiful girl with the white
geese.

"Gilbert thought she didn't belong here," mused Anne, "but I feel sure
she does. There was something about her that made her part of the sea
and the sky and the harbor. Four Winds is in her blood."

When Anne went downstairs Gilbert was standing before the fireplace
talking to a stranger. Both turned as Anne entered.

"Anne, this is Captain Boyd. Captain Boyd, my wife."

It was the first time Gilbert had said "my wife" to anybody but Anne,
and he narrowly escaped bursting with the pride of it. The old captain
held out a sinewy hand to Anne; they smiled at each other and were
friends from that moment. Kindred spirit flashed recognition to
kindred spirit.

"I'm right down pleased to meet you, Mistress Blythe; and I hope you'll
b