Show The Evangeline The had just finished writing “Merry Christmas” on the dingy little mirror of his bar in “The Gold Nugget” as I entered his establishment on Christmas eve a few years ago You see it was my first year out of college and the first Christmas away from the folks Here I was three thousand miles away from the paternal homestead in a little mining town of the Sierra Nevadas in California bearing the unpretentious name of Dutch Flat I had worked through the summer months for a mining company and had intended to get down to the warmer climate by December but a “cave-in- ” at the mine kept me in the mountains By the time Christmas came round I began to have a sick feeling round the heart I wasn’t homesick but you know how a fellow feels when Christmas comes and the old faces are nowhere in sight On the afternoon before Christmas I quit work early and started for town I had supper at the little hotel and then went out and waded around in the snow trusting that I would meet somebody who could sympathize with me As I tramped on nothing but “bar-keep- ” blasts of wind and flakes of falling snow greeted me but noticing that the light of the “Gold Nugget” shone the brightest of any of the “kerosene incandes-cents- ” I made my way towards social that center Arriving there the sight which greeted my eyes was picturesque The “bar-keep- ” was just completing the aforesaid decoration and turning to me said with a glowing smile “Merry Christmas to ye” I wished him the same in return and then directed my attention to the gathering in the bar room In western towns of that type now nearly extinct the saloon is still the social center Here the boss and his laborers touch elbows on equality Cow punchers miners wood cutters stage drivers together with the wandering doctor or lawyer make up the membership of this privy council Such a motley gathering met my eyes but having lived with them for several months I soon “mixed” for the sundry “Merry Christmases” made it apparent that I was welcome to the crowd That night a strange silence prevailed The “faro” dealer sat quietly by the stove lost in before-mention- ed |