Squire was not as ready to serve as Frank's counsel and withstood
that young man's urging for some time. The Squire's solicitude in behalf
of the accused was the reason for this reluctance. "You ought to have
the smartest city lawyer you can hire. I'm only an old country codger,
son!"

"Squire Hexter, I propose to let the other side have a monopoly of the
tricks. I'm depending on my innocence, and I want your honesty back of
it."

In the hope that the folks of Egypt would recognize innocence when they
saw it, Vaniman daily walked the streets of the village. The pride
of innocence was soon wounded; he learned that his action in "showing
himself under the folks's noses" was considered as bravado. The light of
day showed him so many sour looks that he stayed in the house with Xoa
or in the Squire's office until night. Then he discovered that when he
walked abroad under cover of the darkness he was persistently trailed;
it was evident that the belief that he had hidden the coin of the Egypt
Trust Company was sticking firmly in the noodles of the public.

The bank, of course, was now forbidden ground for him. The affairs of
that unhappy institution were being wound up. Considering the fact that
the stockholders had been assessed dollar for dollar of their holdings,
and that, even with this assessment added to the assets, the depositors
would get back only a fraction of their money, Vaniman could scarcely
marvel at the hard looks and the muttered words he met up with on the
street.

Furthermore, the insurance company took the stand that the bank had
not been burglarized. On the other hand, the security company behind
Vaniman's bond refused to settle, claiming that some kind of a theft
had been committed by outsiders. Only after expensive litigation could
Receiver Waite hope to add insurance and bond money to the assets. The
prospects of getting anything were clouded by the revelations concerning
President Britt's private entrance to the bank vault. But Britt was not
accused of anything except of presuming on too many liberties in running
a one-man bank. Under some circumstances Britt would have been called
to an accounting, without question. But all the venom of suspicion was
wholly engaged with Frank Vaniman, the son of an embezzler.

Squire Hexter, armed with authority and information given him by the
young man, had repeatedly waited on Tasper Britt and had asked what
attitude the president proposed to take at the tri