"Now, Rosebud, and the rest of you, take hold of this rope, and when the word comes up to you from General, haul up the box which is made fast to the other end of it," continued Levi. "As soon as you get it up here, unhitch the line, and throw the end down to General. As soon as you have done that, load the case into the boat, then haul up another, and do the same thing over again."
"Gunnymunks!" exclaimed the laughing negro. "Whar all de boxes come from?"
"None of your business, Rosebud; mind your work, and don't ask questions," returned the manager, as he descended to the entrance to the cavern.
"W'at we gwine to do, Mars'r Bedford?" asked General.
"You are going to pull and haul; and you can begin now," replied Levi. "Take hold of that line, and draw that box up here. Pull steady, so as not to break it."
The two powerful negroes manned the rope, and dragged the case up to the opening without any difficulty, and without doing it any great injury. It was placed so that it could be readily hauled out of the sink.
"Above there!" called the overseer. "Now haul steady on the rope! Ease it out of the opening, General."
The two big men crowded it around the corner, and then it went up to the ground above without any obstruction or delay. The line was detached from the box, and thrown down to the entrance, General passing it down to the pile of boxes. Another had been prepared for the rope, and the planter made fast to it. Levi had gone up to superintend the loading of the box, and arranged a couple of planks he found in the boat, so that this part of the work could be conveniently done. He made Rosebud the "boss" for the time being, and then went down into the cavern to assist his employer.
"It won't take long to do the job at this rate," said Mr. Lyon when the overseer joined him. "Your plan of doing the work makes an easy thing of it."
"I could not tell how it was to be done till I saw the situation of things here; but we shall be back to Riverlawn before daylight," replied Levi, as they lifted down the third of the boxes.