Matthew Cuthbert is a very quiet man. He is also very shy, especially around women. He spends most of his days in his barn or out in the fields. When he does come home, he seldom enters the upstairs section of the house, leaving those quarters to his sister. As he makes his way to the train station, he enjoys the silence. When he arrives, he avoids the eyes of the young girl he sees standing outside the station.

He is surprised to find that the train has already come and that there is no young boy waiting for him. Matthew goes inside and questions the stationmaster, asking if he saw a Mrs. Spencer get off the train with a child. Mrs. Spencer is the friend who was to bring the orphan child to Avonlea for the Cuthberts. The stationmaster confirms that Mrs. Spencer has come and gone and left the child outside on the platform.

When Matthew goes outside, the only person he sees is the young girl he had noticed before. He looks around but finds no other child. As he ponders what to do next, the girl, who looks to be eleven and is shabbily dressed, puts out her hand and introduces herself. Her name is Anne Shirley and she was beginning to wonder if Matthew had forgotten her. She had already made plans for what to do in case she had to spend the night at the train station. She would have slept in the cherry tree across the way, where she could enjoy the blossoms and the light of the moon, she tells Matthew as they make their way to the carriage.

It becomes quite evident to Matthew that Anne has little fear, enjoys a very creative imagination, and seldom stops to take a breath; she prefers to talk in long, twisting sentences. Although Matthew realizes a mistake has been made, he does not have the heart to tell the young girl that she will have to return to the orphanage because he and his sister had specifically requested a boy.

As they ride home, Matthew is surprised to find that Anne’s incessant talking actually him. She is a very intelligent child, he concludes, and has an unusual way of looking at everything. As they pass various rivers or ponds or fields, Anne feels startled by all the beauty of the island. She does not, however, appreciate the dull names the landmarks have been given. She suggests to Matthew that they call them by different names, which she makes up as they go along. Anne also has a tendency to criticize herself rather harshly. One of the first things she says about herself is how much she detests her bright red hair and freckles. She has always wished she had brown hair.

However, Anne does not linger on what she sees as her lack of beauty. She is too excited to worry about herself. Instead, all she wants to think about is that she will finally have a home. Not only will she have a place to call her own, but that place is one of the most beautiful she ever could have imagined.