"What's happened to you?" asked Peter with an offhand air.
"Why do you ask?" said Ambrose quickly. He hated to think it was all written in his face.
"You look older," said Peter. "I don't see you grinning so much."
Ambrose immediately grinned—after a fashion. "I've got a lot to tell you," he said. "We'll talk after supper."
Half the night they talked. Ambrose laid his proposal before Peter in anxious trepidation. Peter earned the young man's lifelong gratitude by the promptness and heartiness of his response.
"You did right!" he cried with another clap on the back. "It will be a fine adventure! We'll go into Fort Enterprise and make a killing! We'll buy all the grain in sight!"
"It's a big weight to swing," murmured Ambrose.
"Sure!" cried Peter. "But no man would refuse it. What if it does break us? We're young. And we'll have a grand run for our money."
The excess of Ambrose's relief unnerved him a little. "Peter, you're a man!" he murmured brokenly. "I was near crazy, wondering if you'd stand by me!"
"Hey, cut it out!" cried Peter. "Buck up! We got work to do to-night!"