Page:Caroline Lockhart--The Fighting Shepherdess.djvu/378

 lated train whistled and Mr. Teeters excused himself — first reaching for a stalk of celery which he ate as he went, and looking, as Mr. Butefish observed to fill a pause, "like a pig with a corn husk hanging out of its mouth."

When the several courses had passed in review, the tension increased with the realization that the moment which meant so much to everyone present had arrived at last.

So many times they had allowed themselves to hope only to know disappointment. But Prentiss inspired a confidence they never had had in the prospective investors who had gone before. He was of quite a different sort

But the most adroit questioning had failed to extract the slightest hint as to his intentions. In any event, they would soon be out of their suspense, and they waited with an impalience not too well concealed for Gov'nor Sudds to finish his labored speech.

Toomey was called upon next but he begged to be excused, intimating that he was a man of deeds, not words.

Mr. Butefish then recounted the natural resources of the country with a glibness that carried the suggestion that he could do the same in his sleep, and Mr. Scales arose to affirm his confidence in the day when Prouty would be heralded as " the Denver of the State."

Noting the growing signs of restlessness, the Gov'nor ignored the expectant looks of other prominent citizens and called upon Mr. Prentiss, admitting, as though he were conceding a disputed fact, that the decision they were anticipating was a matter of interest — even of considerable concern — to the town.

So general was the appreciation of what Prentiss's speech meant that the cook came out of the kitchen and the waitresses hovered within hearing as Prentiss crumpled his napkin and slowly got up.