CHAPTER III
PROUTY
Major Prouty hung over the hitching post in front of the post office listening with a beatific smile to the sound of the saw and the hammer that came from the Opera House going up at the corner of Prouty Avenue and Wildwood Street. The Major’s eyes held the brooding tenderness of a patron saint, as he looked the length of the wide street of the town which bore his name.
“Sunnin’ yourself, Major?” inquired Hiram Butefish jocularly as he passed; then paused to add, “I’m lookin’ for a big turn-out at the Boosters Club to-night.”
“I trust so, Hiram.”
Aside from himself, no one person had contributed more to Prouty’s growth than the editor of the Grit.
Mr. Butefish had arrived among the first with the intention of opening a plumbing shop, but since the water supply was furnished by a windmill the demand for his services was not apt to be pressing for some time to come.
Therefore, with true western resourcefulness he bought the handpress of a defunct sheet and turned to journalism instead. Though less lucrative, moulding public opinion and editing a paper that was to be a recognized power in the state seemed to Mr. Butefish a step ahead.
The Middle West had responded nobly to his editorial appeals to come out and help found an Empire. The majority of the optimistic citizens who walked with their heads in the clouds and their eyes on the roseate future were there through his efforts. Appreciative of this fact, the Major’s eyes were kindly as they gazed upon the editor’s retreating back.
His expression was benignity itself as his glance turned lovingly to the Prouty House and the White Hand Laundry—the latter in particular being a milestone on the road of Progress since it heralded the fact that the day was not far distant when a man could wear a boiled shirt without embarrassing comment. Three saloons, the General Merchandise Emporium, and “Doc” Fussel’s drug store completed the list of business enterprises as yet, but others were in contemplation and a bottling works was underway. Oh, yes, Prouty was indelibly on the map.