"In this business you can trust them a great deal farther than you can a white man," said the overseer, as he took a piece of paper from the desk and wrote down the names of some of the hands. "How many do you want, Major Lyon?"
"Half a dozen; we can't accommodate more than that. Put in the boatmen, for there is a deal of boating to be done."
Levi revised his list and then handed it to the planter.
"General, Dummy, Rosebud, Woolly, Mose, Faraway," Mr. Lyon read from the list. "I should say you had picked out just the men we need. They are all used to the boats, and they are among the toughest and strongest hands on the place. Yon must put them under oath, if need be, to be as secret as death itself. I will leave all that to you. Now, have them at the lower boat pier just as soon as possible, and we will be there."
"I will have them there in fifteen minutes," replied Levi, as he hastened to execute his mission.
"Now, boys, go to the pier, and get the Magnolia in condition to go up the creek," continued Mr. Lyon.
"The Magnolia!" exclaimed Deck. "Why, she—"
"We have no time to argue any question, Dexter," interposed the father. "Take your overcoats; and you are to be as secret as the rest of us. Ask your mother to come into the library, but don't stop to talk, my son."
The boys left the room, and Mrs. Lyon immediately presented herself in the library.
"What in the world is going on here to-night, Noah?" asked the good woman. "Ever since the boys came in you have been closeted in here as if you were planning something."