"I'm afraid you are very obstinate, Adin. Why shouldn't the squire's money be as good as anybody's?"
"I don't want to put myself under any obligations to him," said Adin, stiffly.
"You are willin' I should keep the money?"
"Do as you please, Sarah. Only don't let me hear any more of it."
Sarah Dunham put the fifty dollars carefully aside. It seemed strange to her to have so much money in her individual possession. She felt grateful to the squire, if Adin did not.
Weeks passed, and Adin Dunham was able to go about his work. But he seemed a changed man. All his ambition and energy seemed to be gone. He was no longer able to do as much work as formerly, and he went about the place in a listless manner, which made Dean and his aunt feel anxious. Whenever he caught sight of the squire he hurried away, apparently anxious to avoid him.
Renwick Bates did not appear to take any notice of this silence, but it disturbed him.
"He hasn't got over the thought that I robbed him," he said to himself. "Why was I furnished with these wretched tusks? If I had teeth like other people, I should not have been identified. There's one good thing, nobody is likely to share his suspicion. That subscription paper and my large contribution have completely blinded the eyes of people. If he persists in his charge, he will only convince his neighbors that he is a fit subject for an insane asylum."
There was one, however, who fully believed his uncle's story, and that was Dean, who also avoided the squire when it was in his power to do so. He still had in his possession the sleeve button that he had found in the wood, but he had not yet shown it to any one. He was considering what to do about it. He had no doubt about its being the property of Squire Bates, and finally he determined to put it to the proof by letting Brandon see it accidentally.