That good night in the garden was for all time . Anne never saw Ruby in life again . The next night the A.V.I.S. gave a farewell party to Jane Andrews before her departure for the West . And , while light feet danced and bright eyes laughed and merry tongues chattered , there came a summons to a soul in Avonlea that might not be disregarded or evaded . The next morning the word went from house to house that Ruby Gillis was dead . She had died in her sleep , painlessly and calmly , and on her face was a smile -- as if , after all , death had come as a kindly friend to lead her over the threshold , instead of the grisly phantom she had dreaded . Mrs. Rachel Lynde said emphatically after the funeral that Ruby Gillis was the handsomest corpse she ever laid eyes on . Her loveliness , as she lay , white-clad , among the delicate flowers that Anne had placed about her , was remembered and talked of for years in Avonlea . Ruby had always been beautiful ; but her beauty had been of the earth , earthy ; it had had a certain insolent quality in it , as if it flaunted itself in the beholder 's eye ; spirit had never shone through it , intellect had never refined it . But death had touched it and consecrated it , bringing out delicate modelings and purity of outline never seen before -- doing what life and love and great sorrow and deep womanhood joys might have done for Ruby . Anne , looking down through a mist of tears , at her old playfellow , thought she saw the face God had meant Ruby to have , and remembered it so always . Mrs. Gillis called Anne aside into a vacant room before the funeral procession left the house , and gave her a small packet . `` I want you to have this , '' she sobbed . `` Ruby would have liked you to have it . It 's the embroidered centerpiece she was working at . It is n't quite finished -- the needle is sticking in it just where her poor little fingers put it the last time she laid it down , the afternoon before she died . '' `` There 's always a piece of unfinished work left , '' said Mrs. Lynde , with tears in her eyes . `` But I suppose there 's always some one to finish it . '' `` How difficult it is to realize that one we have always known can really be dead , '' said Anne , as she and Diana walked home . `` Ruby is the first of our schoolmates to go .
One by one , sooner or later , all the rest XXXXX us must follow . ''
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