`` I 'll say a thank-you to him for that when I see him , '' said Anne , pulling easy chairs before the fire . `` Oh , I do n't mean that I did n't want to come , '' protested Leslie , flushing a little . `` I -- I 've been thinking of coming -- but it is n't always easy for me to get away . '' `` Of course it must be hard for you to leave Mr. Moore , '' said Anne , in a matter-of-fact tone . She had decided that it would be best to mention Dick Moore occasionally as an accepted fact , and not give undue morbidness to the subject by avoiding it . She was right , for Leslie 's air of constraint suddenly vanished . Evidently she had been wondering how much Anne knew of the conditions of her life and was relieved that no explanations were needed . She allowed her cap and jacket to be taken , and sat down with a girlish snuggle in the big armchair by Magog . She was dressed prettily and carefully , with the customary touch of color in the scarlet geranium at her white throat . Her beautiful hair gleamed like molten gold in the warm firelight . Her sea-blue eyes were full of soft laughter and allurement . For the moment , under the influence of the little house of dreams , she was a girl again -- a girl forgetful of the past and its bitterness . The atmosphere of the many loves that had sanctified the little house was all about her ; the companionship of two healthy , happy , young folks of her own generation encircled her ; she felt and yielded to the magic of her surroundings -- Miss Cornelia and Captain Jim would scarcely have recognized her ; Anne found it hard to believe that this was the cold , unresponsive woman she had met on the shore -- this animated girl who talked and listened with the eagerness of a starved soul . And how hungrily Leslie 's eyes looked at the bookcases between the windows ! `` Our library is n't very extensive , '' said Anne , `` but every book in it is a FRIEND . We 've picked our books up through the years , here and there , never buying one until we had first read it and knew that it belonged to the race of Joseph . '' Leslie laughed -- beautiful laughter that seemed akin to all the mirth that had echoed through the little house in the vanished years . `` I have a few books of father 's -- not many , '' she said . `` I 've read them until I know them almost by heart . I do n't get many books .
There 's a circulating XXXXX at the Glen store -- but I do n't think the committee who pick the books for Mr. Parker know what books are of Joseph 's race -- or perhaps they do n't care .
allurement book bookcases generation heart influence library magic race subject