The boat on which he was a passenger stopped at the mouth of the bayou to take on a supply of wood; and the general, learning that Mr. Lamar was about to come down with another raft, suddenly took it into his head that it would be a good plan to go up and examine it. He had lost a good deal of valuable timber of late, he said, and he believed that Jerry and his father had stolen it. He would look at the raft, and if there were any of his logs in it he would know them, for they were all marked.
So he jumped into a skiff and pulled up the bayou, taking with him a valise containing eight thousand dollars in gold.
He found Mr. Lamar engaged in making up the raft, a portion of which was moored to the bank in front of his house. The general got out of his skiff, and after examining that part of the raft, walked up the bayou to the place where Mr. Lamar was at work.
The latter, knowing why he had come there, good-naturedly took his pike-staff and turned the logs over in the water, so that the general could see all sides of them.
But none of them bore his mark; and without even apologizing to the lumberman for the trouble he had given him, the general returned to the skiff. He got out the oars and was about to shove off from the bank, when he discovered that the valise containing the eight thousand dollars, which he had carelessly left in the boat, was gone.
Jerry was busy chopping wood in front of the house, and without an instant’s hesitation the general sprang ashore, seized him by the collar, and walking him into the skiff, started off to take him before the magistrate.
“You can’t imagine how astonished I was,” said Jerry. "When the general first came there I was not at home; I was up the bayou after a load of wood. You know that when the water comes up it makes an island of the hill on which our house stands, and we are obliged to bring all our firewood from the mainland in a canoe. I noticed the skiff when I came back, but I did not know who had brought it there until I saw General Mason up the bank with father, looking at the logs. When he came down I wished him good-morning; but he did not speak or even look at me, and I went on with my work. The next thing I knew I was lying flat on the bottom of the skiff, and he was shoving off into the stream.
"‘You see I am prepared for any tricks,’ said he, flourishing a revolver before my face. ‘You have stolen eight thousand dollars out of this boat. Now will you tell me where it is, or go to jail?"
"If the Mississippi had suddenly overflowed its banks and come pouring into the bayou, carrying every thing before it, I could not have been more astounded and alarmed. How could I tell him where his money was when I had never seen it?
“I said every thing I could to convince him that I was innocent of the crime with which he charged me; but it was of no use. I might as well have kept silent. In obedience to his orders I picked up the oars and pulled down the bayou; and here I am.”