Chapters 9-12 Summary

Jay Berry fetches several apples and heads back into the bottoms. He has a hard time convincing Rowdy to accompany him but finally succeeds by pretending to cry when Rowdy won't come. In the bottoms, Jay Berry smells the distinctive odor of fermenting fruit and hears the monkeys. He discovers that the monkeys have found a sour mash fermenting setup in the river bottoms. The fermenting units are hidden by the Gravely brothers, neighbors of the Lee family who are whiskey bootleggers. The monkeys have opened the mash barrel and are using a dipper to drink from it. Jay Berry approaches the monkeys and calls out to Jimbo by name, trying to be friendly. Jimbo takes an apple and then hands Jay Berry a dipper of sour mash. Apparently not realizing it already contains a lot of alcohol, Jay Berry gags...