Quails were more abundant than they had ever known them to be before.

They seemed to flock into the General's fields on purpose to be caught, and before many days had passed, it became necessary to fit up another cabin for the reception of the prisoners.

In the meantime the General's timber and nails were used up rapidly.

The boys had the hardest part of their work to do now, and that was to build a sufficient number of coops to hold all the birds.

Silas Jones said that the Emma Deane was expected down every day, and Don declared that the birds must be shipped on her when she came back from New Orleans, if it took every man and woman on the plantation to get them ready.