VALLEY

CHAPTER XVIIIMARY BRINGS EVIL TIDINGSMARY VANCE, whom Mrs. Elliott had sent upto the manse on an errand, came tripping downRainbow Valley on her way to Ingleside where shewas to spend the afternoon with Nan and Di as aSaturday treat.Nan and Di had been picking sprucegum with Faith and Una in the manse woods and thefour of them were now sitting on a fallen pine by thebrook, all, it must be admitted, chewing rather vigorously.The Ingleside twins were not allowed to chewspruce gum anywhere but in the seclusion of RainbowValley, but Faith and Una were quite unrestricted bysuch rules of etiquette and cheerfully chewed iteverywhere,at home and abroad, to the very proper horrorof the Glen. Faith had been seen chewingit in churchone day; but Jerry had realized the enormity of that,and had given her such an older-brotherly scoldingthat she never did itagain."I was so hungry I justfelt as if I had to chewsomething," she protested. "You know well enoughwhat breakfast was like, Jerry Meredith. I couldn'teat scorched porridge and my stomach justqueer and empty. The gum helpedi95felt soa lot and I didn't