Part 2 (2/2)

The idea came with such startling force that it seemed to the Major as if something broke in his brain. Other ideas followed. They came tumbling over each other in their struggle to get out all at once. A panorama of pictures pa.s.sed so swiftly before his eyes that it made him dizzy. His eyes gleamed, the color rose in his weather-beaten cheeks, the hand with which he pointed to the greasewood flat below trembled as he exclaimed in an excitement that made his breath come short:

”The main street'll run up the creek and about there I'll put the Op'ry House. The hotel'll stand on the corner and we'll git a Carnegie Libery for the other end of town. The High School can be over yonder and we'll keep the saloons to one side of the street. There'll be a park where folks can set, and if I ain't got pull enough to git a fifty thousand dollar Federal Buildin'--”

Then came the inspiration which made the Major stagger back:

”I'll git the post office, and name it Prouty!”

He felt so tremulous that he had to sit down.

It seemed incredible that he had not thought of this before, for deep within him was a longing to have his name figure in the pages of the history of the big new state. Tombstones blew over, dust storms obliterated graves, photographs faded, but with a town named after him and safely on the map, n.o.body could forget him if he wanted to.

The Major's a.s.sertion concerning his ”pull” was no idle boast. There were few men in the state with a wider acquaintance, and he was a conspicuous figure around election time. The experience he had acquired in his younger days selling Indian Herb Cough Syrup from the tailboard of a wagon, between two sputtering flambeaux, served him in good stead when, later, he was called upon to make a few patriotic remarks at a Fourth of July Celebration. His rise was rapid from that time, until now his services as an orator were so greatly in demand for cornerstone layings and barbecues that, owing to distance between towns, it kept him almost constantly on the road.

The Major sold an occasional box of salve, and in an emergency pulled teeth, in addition to the compensation which he received for what was designated privately as his ”gift of gab.” But the Major, nevertheless, had his dark moments, in which he contemplated the day when age should force him to retire to private life. Since the wagon containing his patent leather valise was his home, the Major had no private life to retire to, and his anxiety concerning the future would seem not without cause. Now in a flash all his worries smoothed out. He would capitalize his wide acquaintance and his influence, gain independence and perpetuate his name in the same stroke. At the moment he actually suffered because there was no one present to whom he could communicate his thoughts.

The cloud of dust was closer, but not near enough yet to distinguish the moving objects that caused it, so he set himself energetically to applying White Badger Salve to the axle, replacing the wheel and tightening the nut. When he straightened a horseman who had ridden out of the creek bed was scrambling up the side of the ”bench.” He was dressed like a top cowpuncher--silver-mounted saddle, split-ear bridle and hand-forged bit. The Major was familiar with the type, though this particular individual was unknown to him.

”Howdy!” The cowboy let the reins slip through his fingers so his horse could feed, and sagged sidewise in the saddle.

”How are you, sir?” There was nothing in the dignified restraint of the Major's response to indicate that his vocal cords ached for exercise and he was fairly quivering in his eagerness for an ear to talk into. There was a silence in which he removed a nose bag, bridled and shoved a horse against the tongue.

”Back, can't ye!”

”Nooned here, I reckon?”

The Major thought of his chickenless handout and his face clouded.

”I et a bite.”

”Thought maybe you was in trouble when I first see you.”

”Had a hot box, but I don't call that trouble.” He added humorously:

”I can chop my wagon to pieces and be on the road again in twenty minutes, if I got plenty of balin' wire.”

The cowboy laughed so appreciatively that the Major inquired ingratiatingly:

”I bleeve your face is a stranger to me, ain't it?”

”I don't mind meetin' up with you before. I've just come to the country, as you might say.”

The Major waited for further information, but since it was not forthcoming he ventured:

”What might I call your name, sir?”

The cowboy s.h.i.+fted his weight uneasily and hesitated. He said finally while the red of his s.h.i.+ny sun-blistered face deepened perceptibly: ”My name is supposed to be Teeters--Clarence Teeters.”

<script>