With that he strode off alone to the cabin and entered it. He there explained the situation to the boys and said:
"I'm afraid I shall have to ask you fellows to go out there and stack your arms, considering yourselves under arrest till our timid friends of revenue officers can make a tour of inspection all about your camp under the armed escort of my men. They were so sure that they had surprised a still here that they can't get over the notion. So we must humor them."
The boys readily consented to the plan. They marched out to a point designated by the lieutenant and there stacked their arms, over which the lieutenant summoned two of his men to stand guard. Then he bade the revenue officers come on, and under escort of his file of soldiers they minutely scrutinized the entire camp. The felled trees not yet chopped into shape for sending down the mountain; the large quantity of ties and cordwood that were piled near the chute; the multitude of stumps from which timber had been recently cut; the great piles of brush left over from the chopping; and finally the chute itself, now nearly worn out with use—all these attested the character of the camp and indicated an industry on the part of its occupants, such as no company of moonshiners ever displayed.
At last the Lieutenant said to the chief revenue officer, with some show of impatience:
"Aren't you satisfied, yet? Why don't you look under these boys' finger nails? How do you know they haven't some stills secreted there?"
"Yes, I'm satisfied with all but one thing," answered the agent of the excise.
"What's that?" asked Jack. "Whatever it is, I'll try to satisfy you concerning it."
"Why, I don't understand, if you aren't engaged in any crooked business, what you built that fortification for. If you didn't feel the need of resisting the government agents, what need had you for a barrier like that to shoot behind?"
"We built that to protect ourselves against moonshiners," answered Jack.
"But why should moonshiners disturb you?" asked the still incredulous revenue agent.