`` I do n't understand you , Tannis , '' he said hurriedly . `` You have made me love you , '' said Tannis . The words sound flat enough on paper . They did not sound flat to Tom , as repeated by Lazarre , and they sounded anything but flat to Carey , hurled at him as they were by a woman trembling with all the passions of her savage ancestry . Tannis had justified her criticism of poetry . She had said her half-dozen words , instinct with all the despair and pain and wild appeal that all the poetry in the world had ever expressed . They made Carey feel like a scoundrel . All at once he realized how impossible it would be to explain matters to Tannis , and that he would make a still bigger fool of himself , if he tried . `` I am very sorry , '' he stammered , like a whipped schoolboy . `` It is no matter , '' interrupted Tannis violently . `` What difference does it make about me -- a half-breed girl ? We breed girls are only born to amuse the white men . That is so -- is it not ? Then , when they are tired of us , they push us aside and go back to their own kind . Oh , it is very well . But I will not forget -- my father and brother will not forget . They will make you sorry to some purpose ! '' She turned , and stalked away to her canoe . He waited under the pines until she crossed the river ; then he , too , went miserably home . What a mess he had contrived to make of things !
Poor XXXXX !
Carey Lazarre Tannis Tom father girls home paper passions pines