The scheme that he had outlined was followed out to the letter, with additions made as they occurred to the ingenious minds of the editor or of his clever young reporters who took an immense delight in running under the guise of news items, bits of reminder, gentle gibes at slowness, bland comments on ignorance of the commercial value of beauty, mild jokes at letting children do men’s work.  It was all so good-natured that no one took offence, and at the same time no one who read the Star had the opportunity to forget that seed had been sown.

It germinated even more promptly than Mr. Montgomery had prophesied.  He knew that Mr. Emerson stood ready to call a mass meeting at any moment that he should tell him that the time was ripe, but both he and Mr. Emerson thought that the call might be more effective if it came from a person who really had been converted by the articles in the paper.  This person came to the front but five days after the appearance of the first editorial in the surprising person of the alderman who had been foremost in opposing the laying out of the park.

“You may think me a weathercock,” he said rather sheepishly to Mr. Montgomery, “but when I make up my mind that a thing is desirable I put my whole strength into putting it through.  When I finally gave my vote for the park I was really converted to the park project and I tell you I’ve been just frothing because the other aldermen have been so slow about putting it in order.  I haven’t been able to get them to appropriate half enough for it.”

Mr. Montgomery smothered a smile, and listened, unruffled, to his caller’s proposal.

“My idea now,” he went on, “is to call a mass meeting in the Town Hall some day next week, the sooner the better.  I’ll be the chairman or Mr. Emerson or you, I don’t care who it is.  We’ll put before the people all the points you’ve taken up in your articles.  We’ll get people who understand the different topics to talk about them—­some fellow on the commercial side and some one else on the beauty side and so on; and we’ll have the Glen Point nurseryman—­”

“We ought to have one over here,” interposed Mr. Montgomery.”

“We will if this goes through.  There’s a new occupation opened here at once by this scheme!  We’ll have him give us a rough estimate of how much it would cost to make the most prominent spots in Rosemont look decent instead of like a deserted ranch,” exclaimed the alderman, becoming increasingly enthusiastic.

“I don’t know that I’d call Rosemont that,” objected the editor.  “People don’t like to have their towns abused too much; but if you can work up sentiment to have those public places fixed up and then you can get to work on some sort of plan for prizes for the prettiest front yards and the best grown vines over doors and-so on, and raise some competitive feeling I believe we’ll have no more trouble than we did about the school gardens.  It just takes some one to start the ball rolling, and you’re the person to do it,” and tactful Mr. Montgomery laid an approving hand on the shoulder of the pleased alderman.