`` The priest went to town last night and has not come back , '' said Tannis . Carey groaned and shut his eyes . If Father Gabriel was away , there was indeed no one to go . Old Auguste and the doctor could not leave Paul and he knew well that no breed of them all at the Flats would turn out on such a night , even if they were not , one and all , mortally scared of being mixed up in the law and justice that would be sure to follow the affair . He must die without seeing Elinor . Tannis looked inscrutably down on the pale face on Mrs. Joe Esquint 's dirty pillows . Her immobile features gave no sign of the conflict raging within her . After a short space she turned and went out , shutting the door softly on the wounded man and Mrs. Joe , whose howls had now simmered down to whines . In the next room , Paul was crying out with pain as the doctor worked on his arm , but Tannis did not go to him . Instead , she slipped out and hurried down the stormy street to old Auguste 's stable . Five minutes later she was galloping down the black , wind-lashed river trail , on her way to town , to bring Elinor Blair to her lover 's deathbed . I hold that no woman ever did anything more unselfish than this deed of Tannis ! For the sake of love she put under her feet the jealousy and hatred that had clamored at her heart . She held , not only revenge , but the dearer joy of watching by Carey to the last , in the hollow of her hand , and she cast both away that the man she loved might draw his dying breath somewhat easier . In a white woman the deed would have been merely commendable . In Tannis of the Flats , with her ancestry and tradition , it was lofty self-sacrifice . It was eight o'clock when Tannis left the Flats ; it was ten when she drew bridle before the house on the bluff . Elinor was regaling Tom and his wife with Avonlea gossip when the maid came to the door . `` Pleas 'm , there 's a breed girl out on the verandah and she 's asking for Miss Blair . '' Elinor went out wonderingly , followed by Tom .
Tannis , whip in hand , stood by the open door , with the stormy night behind her , and the warm ruby light XXXXX the hall lamp showering over her white face and the long rope of drenched hair that fell from her bare head .
If In by of than to under with within without