As soon as they had stopped laughing, the story teller said:
“I will now tell you a Christmas story of the Great Northwest.”
XXIII
GLOOMY GUS AND THE CHRISTMAS CAT
THE Canadian miner was the first of the men to finish “washing up,” on his return from the mine.
“Where’s Barbara?” he asked, tossing his towel at a peg.
“She has a little cold and I put her to bed,” replied Mrs. St. Clair.
The anxiety in the mother’s voice kept him from asking any more questions. He followed the other men in to supper.
“It seems lonesome without Barbara,” said McGill, the mining engineer.