The Underground Railroad

Chapter 18 Summary

The chapter opens with a bulletin dated May 17, put out by a John Dark of Chatham County. It offers a $25 reward for a Black girl named Peggy, who has a scar on her neck due to a burn. The bulletin states that Peggy will try to pass as free, although she is not particularly intelligent.

We are presented with an image of Jasper, another enslaved man captured by Ridgeway, singing, “Jesus, carry me home, home to that land” (202). Ridgeway shouts for Jasper to shut up, but he will not. Sometimes, they halt so that Boseman can hit Jasper on the head. But Jasper inevitably resumes his singing, even after a beating. Cora recognizes some of his hymns, but also suspects that he makes some of them up. She finds Jasper’s voice and appearance unpleasant.

The posse picked up Jasper when they were three days into their journey away from North Carolina. He ran from a Florida cane field and arrived in Tennessee before a tinker apprehended him pilfering food from his pantry. The deputy found Jasper’s owners, but the tinker had no way to transport him—so Ridgeway struck a deal.