"What are you going to do with the money, Adin?" "I don't know yet. I'll keep it by me till I've decided. Perhaps I'll invest in gov'ment bonds. I guess they're about as safe as anything." "So I've heard, Adin. I suppose the gov'ment ain't likely to fail." "If it is, I guess all the banks will fail too." "How are you goin' over to Rockmount?" "I'll borrow neighbor Gould's horse and buggy. That horse is pretty strong, and he won't mind the twenty miles—ten there and ten back." "I don't like to have you travelin' so far with all that money. S'pose you should meet with robbers." "There ain't any robbers round here, Sarah. This is a respectable community." "You might meet a tramp." "Well, the chances are that he'd be more afraid of me than I would be of him. I ain't a child, Sarah. I can lift a barrel of potatoes and put it in a wagon as easy as most men." "Well, Adin, you know best. Hadn't you better take Dean with you?" "Why should I take Dean?" "It would be safer for two than for one." "You don't mean to say that I need a boy of sixteen to protect me? If I thought I did, I'd stay at home and send Dean by himself." "Well, Adin, I don't want to interfere. It wouldn't be much use, either, for you generally have your own way. Have you told any of the neighbors that you are goin' for some money?" "No except Lawyer Bates." "What made you tell him?" "Well, I was in his office the other evenin', and somehow I was led into tellin' it. I gave a sort of hint, and the lawyer he drew it out of me. Them lawyers are great on cross-examinin', you know." "What did Squire Bates say?" "He told me I'd better not tell anybody else. He talked for all the world just like you did, Sarah. You haven't been chatterin' with the squire, have you?" "No, Adin, I don't like him well enough for that. I never fancied the squire. He's always showin' those long front teeth of his, like a wild beast." "They ain't very handsome teeth, I'm bound to admit, Sarah, but the poor man can't help himself. He's as God made him." "He gave you good advice at any rate, Adin. There's so many dishonest people in the world that it's best to be careful. Did you tell him when you were goin' for the money?" "I don't exactly remember. I guess I did." "Do you think Squire Bates is a rich man, Adin?" "I don't know. He's a lawyer, and keeps his affairs mighty close." "That boy of his—Brandon—is his very image, even to the teeth." "Well, he does favor his father considerable." "Dean doesn't like him. He's a very big feeling boy. He looks down on Dean because he is the nephew of a poor man." "O, he'll get wiser in time. We mustn't mind them young folks so much. Boys will be boys." "So they will, but there's different kinds of boys." "I guess there's room enough in the world for both of them. If they don't like each other they can keep apart." "Dean is an excellent boy. I don't know how we should get along without him."