Page:Caroline Lockhart--The Fighting Shepherdess.djvu/47

 mountains in sufficient quantity not only to supply the town but to irrigate the agricultural land surrounding It.

Mr. Abram Pantin, a man of affairs from Keokuk, Iowa, in the vicinity with a view to locating, had been called upon for a few remarks and was just closing with the safe and conservative statement that an ample water supply was an asset to any community.

He was followed by the chairman, Mr. Butefish, who pleaded eloquently for the construction of the ditch by local capital, and having aroused the meeting to a high pitch of enthusiasm ended with a peroration that brought forth a loud demonstration of approbation.

" Gentlemen," declared Mr. Butefish, " back there in the mountains is a noble stream waitin' to irrigate a thirsty land. For the trifling sum of twenty thousand dollars we can turn this hull country into a garden spot! The time is comin' when we'll see nothin' but alfalfa field in purple bloom as fur as the eye can reach I We're as rich in natural resources as any section on God's green earth. We're lousy with 'em, gentlemen, and all we gotta do is to put our shoulders to the wheel and scratch ! "

Mr. Butefish sat down and dried the inside of his collar with his handkerchief midst tumultuous applause.

The evening had been a veritable love-feast without a jarring note and everybody glowed with a feeling of neighborliness and confidence in a future that was to bring them affluence.

"Mr. Chairman, may I have a word? "

There was a general turning of heads as Mormon Joe, thick of tongue, lurched over the back of the seat in front.

" Kindly make it brief," replied Mr. Butefish reluctantly. " We still have important business to transact."

" I only want to say that this country hasn't any more natural resources than a tin roof and when Prouty got