| MRS. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow , fringed with alders and ladies ’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place ; it was reputed to be an intricate , headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods , with dark secrets of pool and cascade ; but by the time it reached Lynde ’s Hollow it was a quiet , well-conducted little stream , for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde ’s door without due regard for decency and decorum ; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window , keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed , from brooks and children up , and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof .