A full month passed, using their utmost diligence, before they took on board the last load, and had the satisfaction of delivering it safely, and receiving from Major Morris, not only the full balance due, but an expression of his perfect satisfaction with the whole affair. One hundred dollars Jim and Ned could now call their own, for although Ned said that it ought to belong to Jim, he would hear of no such thing; Ned, he said, had worked as hard as either of them, and sometimes harder. 'Well, Jim, what would all the working have amounted to without those thoughts of yours? and only to think how I laughed at you.' 'We won't mind that now, Ned; but if you won't laugh, I will tell you what I have been thinking about again.' 'Do tell, Jim? I will never ridicule any of your thoughts after this.' It happened that the boys were sitting on their favorite rock, enjoying the calm decline of one of autumn's loveliest days. 'Come, Jim, I promise you I won't laugh.' 'Why, to tell you the truth, Ned, I have been thinking whether there was no way that we might be supplied with such things as we need from a store, without going to Grizzle's; I am tired of it, for my part.' 'There is no use of thinking about that, Jim, or talking about it either; we have had that over long enough; we cannot help ourselves, and there's the end of it.' 'I don't know that; I think we might help ourselves.' 'How, Jim? Come, let me hear.' 'Do you remember, Ned, I once told you about a boat I saw at the fort, which had come from a distance with stores for the garrison? there were large square chests of tea, just as they came from China, and barrels of molasses and sugar, and casks of rice, and a great variety of things, enough to have completely filled Mr. Grizzle's store.' 'Yes; I remember you told us about it, when you came home. But what of it, Jim? What good will they do us?' 'I do not expect that those particular articles will benefit us, especially, but I have thought a great deal about the matter since then; and now, what I was going to propose is, to put your money with mine, and let me lay it out in tea, and molasses, and sugar and some other things.' 'Why, Jim, now you _are_ crazy. Why, when should we ever eat up a hundred dollars' worth of such things?' 'But you are too fast, Ned; you don't wait to hear what I have to say. I intended, when we had procured these things, to let the neighbors know of it, and when they wanted, we could sell to them for a small profit. I know many would prefer buying of us rather than of Grizzle.' 'Why, Jim!' and Ned jumped down from the rock, and placing himself immediately before his brother, looked up at him with great earnestness. 'You mean that we should set up a little store--don't you, Jim?' 'Yes, it would be something like that.' 'And then, perhaps, after a while we should have a great many things, and a great many people would come to buy of us; I know they would, for they all like you so much.'