t it. Some day the folks of this town will be able to look
back on this night and laugh, I do hope. But not now. They're too much
wrought up. They're too busy. Hold on! I'm going to let another man
explain the thing. He's in a position to pass out information more to
the point than anything I can hand you. I'll simply say this. When you
saw what you beheld in the fog this night, you were seeing a revised
version of the Book of Exodus acted out in real life. The Children of
Israel, of this day and date, are departing from the land of Pharaoh,
current edition. With their flocks and their possessions, their wives
and their children, they are on their way to The Promised Land. And
now, if you'll step into the parlor with me I'll introduce you to the
promiser."

Vaniman followed

CHAPTER XXX

THE PROMISED LAND

There was a big man in the parlor, a hearty-looking man, manifestly of
the metropolis, patently of the "good sport" type. He was walking up and
down. With his tweed knickerbockers, his belted jacket, his diamonds in
his scarf and on his fingers, he was such an odd figure in the homely
surroundings that he produced on Vaniman a surprise effect. The young
man surveyed the stranger with the interest one might take in a queer
animal in a circus van; the big man's restless pacing suggested a caged
creature. But he took not the least interest in Vaniman, an unkempt
individual without a coat.

"Hexter, what did happen, anyway? I thought you were never coming back.
I had a good mind to chase you up, though it would be poor judgment for
me to show myself to-night."

"This has happened!" The Squire pointed to Vaniman. The big man cocked
an inquiring eyebrow, looking at the Squire's exhibit with indifference.
"Colonel, this is Frank Vaniman. You know all about the case!"

The stranger stepped back so hastily that he knocked over a chair.

"Know about the case!" he bawled. "No, I don't know about it, either, if
this is the man the mountain fell on--or whatever it was that happened.
What kind of con is this you're giving me, Hexter?"

"This is the man, sir. What I mean by saying you know about the case is
that you have agreed with me that an innocent man was railroaded into
prison, after I gave you the facts. He is out through a trick worked
by a prison guard. He'll give us the details later. Just now it's more
important for you to be told that Tasper Britt, by his own acts, has
confessed that he robbed the Egypt Tr