Britt received that manner of retort with the air of a man who had been tunked between the eyes. It was some moments before he could go on. “Don't you realize what the judge will say when I show up your willfulness?”
The Prophet was even more amazing in his new manners. He stuck out his tongue, put his thumb to his nose, and wriggled his fingers.
“Well, I'll be condemned!” Britt gasped.
“Sure! When all the evidence is in about you!”
The magnate of Egypt lowered the roll that he had brandished so constantly. After a few moments of silent challenge with the eyes, he turned and walked away.
But he heard the mumble of men's laughter behind him, and his anger and the determination not to be put down in this style in his own town helped him to get back some of his self-possession. He whirled on his heels and strode to the enigma of Egypt.
“Who are you, anyway?” he demanded.
But Prophet Elias was his usual self once more. He had assumed that air which a practical man like Britt found an aggravating, teasing pose or a kind of lunacy with which common sense could not cope. Elias slowly spread his umbrella. He stood beneath it and declaimed:
“'And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.'”
“You let me tell you something! There's one man going out of this land mighty sudden—and he's going to the county jail in charge of a constable.”