Walter had named them long ago ; and last November , when he had walked with her and Miss Oliver in the Valley , he had said , looking at the leafless Lady , with a young silver moon hanging over her , `` A white birch is a beautiful Pagan maiden who has never lost the Eden secret of being naked and unashamed . '' Miss Oliver had said , `` Put that into a poem , Walter , '' and he had done so , and read it to them the next day -- just a short thing with goblin imagination in every line of it . Oh , how happy they had been then ! Well -- Rilla scrambled to her feet -- time was up . Jims would soon be awake -- his lunch had to be prepared -- his little slips had to be ironed -- there was a committee meeting of the Junior Reds that night -- there was her new knitting bag to finish -- it would be the handsomest bag in the Junior Society -- handsomer even than Irene Howard 's -- she must get home and get to work . She was busy these days from morning till night . That little monkey of a Jims took so much time . But he was growing -- he was certainly growing . And there were times when Rilla felt sure that it was not merely a pious hope but an absolute fact that he was getting decidedly better looking . Sometimes she felt quite proud of him ; and sometimes she yearned to spank him . But she never kissed him or wanted to kiss him . `` The Germans captured Lodz today , '' said Miss Oliver , one December evening , when she , Mrs. Blythe , and Susan were busy sewing or knitting in the cosy living-room . `` This war is at least extending my knowledge of geography . Schoolma'am though I am , three months ago I did n't know there was such a place in the world such as Lodz . Had I heard it mentioned I would have known nothing about it and cared as little . I know all about it now -- its size , its standing , its military significance . Yesterday the news that the Germans have captured it in their second rush to Warsaw made my heart sink into my boots . I woke up in the night and worried over it . I do n't wonder babies always cry when they wake up in the night . Everything presses on my soul then and no cloud has a silver lining . ''
`` When I XXXXX up in the night and can not go to sleep again , '' remarked Susan , who was knitting and reading at the same time , `` I pass the moments by torturing the Kaiser to death .
Put being heard ironed lost read took wake wonder worried