“Aha! Ten minutes to the good! If your wires are not down, Barney, I’ll call him up. He’ll be wanting to get ready to tap that maple-tree.”
The next moment they could hear his voice booming at the telephone.
“Yes, siree. Here I am, and not even my breath frozen. No, you needn’t be sending out that snow-plow after me just yet. Only get my things up here as soon as you can. All right!”
Another instant he was back in the room again, vigorously shaking Johanna’s and Barney’s hands.
“Yes, here I am, to paint those snow canvases I’ve been going to do so long, and to dodge Christmas.”
Then it was that for the first time he became conscious of David in the window recess.
“Bless my soul! Who’s this, Johanna?”
Johanna explained, and David came forward and held out an eager hand. He liked this Mr. Peter tremendously, in spite of his last remark, and he was no end glad he had come.
The man returned David’s greeting with equal cordiality, while he screwed up his face into a comical expression of mock disgust.
“And I came up here to dodge Christmas! Say, young man, do you think it’s possible for any person to get away from Christmas with a boy around?”