"How so?"
"Well, I will tell you. Sol. Street has got about eighty guerrillas stationed back in the country a few miles, and in their rear is a large amount of cotton. I have seen it, and it is worth eighty cents a pound. Sol. Street likes money as well as either you or I. Now, if you will see him, and get him to give you a writing that he will withdraw his men for ten days, and let Government teams in there, without molesting them, to haul the cotton away, I will give Sol. one-half of the proceeds of the cotton, at eighty cents a pound, and I will give you five thousand dollars of my share, and you shall see the cotton weighed and carry Sol.'s money to him."
"That would really be a nice little spec, wouldn't it?"
"Yes; and now is the time to strike."
"Well, I am going down into the Confederacy to be gone several days, perhaps two weeks, and I will try and see Sol. Street and find out what he will do about it, and I will let you know on my return."
"Well, do. I am sure that you can't make five thousand dollars easier."
In the morning, I resumed my journey, and had proceeded as far as Waterford, when I accidentally come across Sol. Street. He immediately recognized me as an old acquaintance. After conversing awhile, I said to him, "Sol., you like to make money and so do I, and it don't matter much how we make it, either. I know of a chance for both of us to make something."
"Well, what is it?"
"There is a large lot of cotton in the country, to the rear of your men, and there is a Yankee cotton-buyer, that has seen the cotton, who says that it is worth eighty cents a pound, and that if you will agree to withdraw your men for ten days, and allow him, unmolested, to haul the cotton out with Federal teams, he will sell the cotton and pay over to me one-half of the proceeds of the cotton for you, and will give me five thousand dollars. What do you think of that, Sol.?"
"Will you be responsible to me for my share?"