What a mess he had contrived to make of things ! Poor Tannis ! How handsome she had looked in her fury -- and how much like a squaw ! The racial marks always come out plainly under the stress of emotion , as Tom noted later . Her threat did not disturb him . If young Paul and old Auguste made things unpleasant for him , he thought himself more than a match for them . It was the thought of the suffering he had brought upon Tannis that worried him . He had not , to be sure , been a villain ; but he had been a fool , and that is almost as bad , under some circumstances . The Dumonts , however , did not trouble him . After all , Tannis ' four years in Prince Albert had not been altogether wasted . She knew that white girls did not mix their male relatives up in a vendetta when a man ceased calling on them -- and she had nothing else to complain of that could be put in words . After some reflection she concluded to hold her tongue . She even laughed when old Auguste asked her what was up between her and her fellow , and said she had grown tired of him . Old Auguste shrugged his shoulders resignedly . It was just as well , maybe . Those English sons-in-law sometimes gave themselves too many airs . So Carey rode often to town and Tannis bided her time , and plotted futile schemes of revenge , and Lazarre Merimee scowled and got drunk -- and life went on at the Flats as usual , until the last week in October , when a big wind and rainstorm swept over the northland . It was a bad night . The wires were down between the Flats and Prince Albert and all communication with the outside world was cut off . Over at Joe Esquint 's the breeds were having a carouse in honor of Joe 's birthday .
Paul Dumont had gone over , and Carey was alone in the office , smoking lazily and dreaming XXXXX Elinor .
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