“I little thought I should ever come to this,” said Jerry, in a husky voice; “and I never expected to see you here, either.”
“When a fellow is in trouble he wants friends, doesn’t he?” asked Duke. “Have you had any examination yet?”
“I have been before the squire, if that is what you mean, and have been sent here in default of bail—sixteen thousand dollars. The squire might as well have said a million.”
“No, I reckon not,” said Sandy. “Mr. Coleman an’ Mr. Dickson an’ my father can raise sixteen thousand dollars, I think, but it might bother ’em some to find a million. Now, I’ll tell you what’s the truth, Jeremiah Lamar, did you steal them thar eight thousand from General Mason?”
“No, I never saw the money.”
“How in the world did you manage to get into this miserable scrape?” asked Duke.
Jerry wiped his eyes and settled back on his elbow, while we disposed of ourselves in various attitudes about the cell and waited for him to begin the story.
CHAPTER V.
WE TALK THE MATTER OVER.
As Jerry’s utterance was often interrupted by sobs, it took him a long time to tell us how this unpleasant state of affairs had been brought about.
During the progress of his story we learned that General Mason, according to the evidence he had given before the squire, had that morning returned from New Orleans, where he had been to draw some money to make the first payment on a plantation he had recently purchased.