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.