It was half-past three when he reached the outskirts of the town. Mounting the steps of the first house, he rained heavy blows upon the door. The owner stuck his head out of a window. “Who’s there?” he asked.
“Give me a cat!” Gus ordered in a rough voice.
“Are you crazy?” yelled the enraged man at the window.
“I’ve got to have a cat! I’m from the Little Bear! Cook’s little girl is sick--pneumonia! She’s goin’ to die if we don’t get her a cat!”
“From the Little Bear? Over the zigzags? Impossible!”
“Give me a cat or I’ll break your door in!”
Presently a light glimmered through the night and a hastily clad man joined Gus. A search of the neighborhood produced a cat and fresh skis. In half an hour Gus was on the trail back.
At the mine the men had not gone to their bunks that night. They huddled before the fireplace, awaiting the dreaded news. McGill slipped by now and then on some errand.
The night dragged through, and Christmas dawned.
Christmas! This was the first time they had planned a real Christmas since they left their homes years ago. But now the heart had been taken out of the day.
They sat down to a listless breakfast. McGill came in.
“She’s still fighting. She’s got to win or lose pretty soon,” he said.
They did not go to the mine that morning. It was the first Christmas the Little Bear Mine had not run.
“Boys, I can’t stand it any longer. She’s wearing her strength away fretting for that cat. I’m not sure that a cat would really quiet her, and I hardly believe any living man can make it to Telluride, but I’m going to try.”
“No, you’re not,” said the Canadian. “She needs you here. Besides, you’re worn out. I’ll get the cat.”
“No use. Gus and I are the only two good enough on skis to have a fighting chance.”
“Gus! That brute hasn’t got the heart of a mine mule! He wouldn’t go at the point of a gun! Where is he? I haven’t seen him since last night,” stormed the foreman.
Silently the men watched the Canadian prepare for the trail. They were rough men, who held life cheaply, but not one of them believed a man had a chance to make the trail and return safely.
Suddenly the door opened and Gus staggered in. He tried to cross the room, but his worn-out muscles refused to act, and he sank to the floor.