This owner had more than sixty fine mules, that were running loose in the field.  One day the lessee told the owner that he had purchased a lot of mules at Natchez, and would bring them out soon.  On the following night, while the owner slept, the lessee called some trusty negroes to his aid, caught seventeen mules from the field, sheared and branded them, and placed them in a yard by themselves.  In the morning he called the owner to look at the “purchase.”

“You have bought an excellent lot,” said the latter individual.  “Where were they from?”

“All from St. Louis.” was the response.  “They were brought down two days ago.  I don’t know what to do about turning them out.  Do you think, if I put them with yours, there is any danger of their straying, on account of being on a strange place?”

“None at all.  I think there is no risk.”

The lessee took the risk, and expressed much delight to find that the new mules showed themselves at home on the plantation.

Several days later the owner of the plantation discovered the loss of his mules, but never suspected what had become of them.  Two weeks afterward, the Rebels came and asked him to designate the property of the lessee, that they might remove it.  He complied by pointing out the seventeen mules, which the Rebels drove away, leaving the balance unharmed.

I landed at the plantation one Sunday evening, with the goods I had purchased in New Orleans.  I was met with the unwelcome information that the small force at Waterproof, after committing many depredations on the surrounding country, had been withdrawn, leaving us exposed to the tender mercies of the indignant chivalry.  We were liable to be visited at any moment.  We knew the Rebels would not handle us very tenderly, in view of what they had suffered from our own men.  A party of guerrillas was reported seven miles distant on the day previous, and there was nothing to hinder their coming as near as they chose.

Accordingly, we determined to distribute the goods among the negroes as early as possible.  On Monday morning we commenced.  There was some delay, but we succeeded in starting a very lively trade before seven o’clock.

Shoes were in great demand, as the negroes had not been supplied with these articles for nearly three years.  A hundred pairs were speedily issued, when the balance was laid aside for future consideration.  There were some of the negroes whose feet were too large for any shoes we had purchased.  It was a curious fact that these large-footed negroes were not above the ordinary stature.  I remember one in particular who demanded “thirteens,” but who did not stand more than five feet and five inches in his invisible stockings.