A Pinch of Dust - Review

I really enjoyed this historical Christmas short story by Carol Buchanan. "A Pinch of Dust" (10K words) not only tells a story of goodwill and caring for others, but portrays the rough living conditions of a 19th century mining town.

It takes place on Christmas Eve, 1864, with all the cold winds of Montana and with a child begging on the street. "Mister, can you spare a pinch of dust?" she asks Dan Stark.

Dan's reaction? He gets himself into a poker game with the girl's dead-beat father.

This gets him into big trouble with his wife, Martha, and his stepchildren, Timothy and Dotty. "You'll be sittin' in the seat of the ungodly!" Martha says.
His intentions are really good. But can he pull it off?

Set in Virginia City, Montana Territory, Buchanan has employed her great character--Dan Stark, from her Vigilante series--as the protagonist. There's also a lot of card-shark talk (beyond me, but interesting just to see the ins-and-outs of a five-card stud game).

Author's notes at the end are also interesting.