on their track, and fearing
the result, they've landed me also. Now they 'll get rid of us both as
best they can. These fellows won't want any trial--that would be liable
to give the whole trick away--but they have got to put us where we won't
talk. There is an easy way to do this, and that is by a lynching bee. Do
you get my drift, Neb?"

The whites of the negro's eyes were very much in evidence, his hands
gripping at the bench on which he sat.

"Fo' de Lawd, yes, Massa Jack, I sho' does. I corroborates de whole
thing."

"Then you are willing to take a chance with me?"

"Willin'! Why, Massa Jack, I'se overjoyed; I ain't gwine leave yer no
mo'. I'se sho' gwine ter be yo' nigger. What yo' gwine ter do?"

Keith ran his eyes over the walls, carefully noting every peculiarity.

"We'll remain here quietly just as long as it is daylight, Neb," he
replied finally, "but we'll try every board and every log to discover
some way out. Just the moment it grows dark enough to slip away without
being seen we've got to hit the prairie. Once south of the Arkansas
we're safe, but not until then. Have you made any effort to get out?"

The negro came over to him, and bent down.

"I was layin' on a board what I'd worked loose at one end," he whispered
hoarsely, "back ob de bench, but I couldn't jerk it out wid'out
somethin' ter pry it up wid."

"Where is it?"

"Right yere, Massa Jack."

It was a heavy twelve-inch plank, part of the flooring, and the second
from the side-wall. Keith managed to get a grip next to the black
fingers, and the two pressed it up far enough for the white man to run
one arm through the opening up to his shoulder and grope about below.

"There's a two-foot space there," he reported, as they let the board
settle silently down into position. "The back part of this building must
be set up on piles. I reckon we could pry that plank up with the bench,
Neb, but it's liable to make considerable racket. Let's hunt about first
for some other weak spot."

They crept across the floor, testing each separate board, but without
discovering a place where they could exert a leverage. The thick
planks were tightly spiked down. Nor did the walls offer any better
encouragement. Keith lifted himself to the grated window, getting a
glimpse of the world without, but finding the iron immovable, the screws
solidly imbedded in the outside wood. He dropped to the floor, feeling
baffled and discouraged.

"It will have to be t