Pegram never looked back so far as could be seen, until, little by little,
even Joseph felt that his spell in the jug had changed Teddy to a member
of society a good bit out of the common.

His friends reckoned that, when another autumn came, the strain would be
too much and the old poacher might be found to fall; but, as Ned Chown
pointed out, it weren't very likely as Pegram would fall again in the same
place.

"If he was minded to fall, he'd sling his hook and go and fall somewhere
else, where he weren't known," he said, and indeed Teddy had made the same
remark himself. He stuck to lawful sport and went his quiet way, until
that happened which looked as though he might soon be minded to flit.

In the fall he sold his cottage to Ned Chown, who owned a few little
dwellings already and was a great believer in the virtue of house
property; but Pegram only let the inn-keeper have it on one condition and
that was that he should be allowed to go on living in it while he chose to
do so. He explained to Joseph Ford that he never meant to leave Little
Silver; but that he was very poor and a thought pressed for money, and
glad to have the value of the house in his pocket again.

So another year passed over 'em all, and the end of the strange business
of 'Santa Claus' came on another Christmas Eve, when he dropped in to see
the Fords and express his friendship and good wishes. They'd quite slipped
back into the old, kindly understanding, and Joseph felt long since
convinced that his stern dealing had been the salvation of the man--a fact
Teddy himself often declared, without shame. They cared for him a lot by
now, and Minnie never tired of singing his praises, and the child never
felt a day well spent if his friend didn't come into it.