With parallels of latitude, with mountain range or sea;

Put heavy padlocks on Truth’s lips, be callous as you will,

From soul to soul, o’er all the world,

leaps the electric thrill.

—James Russell Lowell

Contents

[Prologue]ix
[PART I · THE ROAD]
CHAPTERPAGE
1[Frederick sets his feet upon the road]3
2[The road winds about Chesapeake Bay]16
3[An old man drives his mule]29
4[Frederick comes to a dead end]36
5[One more river to cross]63
[PART II · THE LIGHTNING]
6[Is this a thing, or can it be a man?]83
7[Jobs in Washington and voting in Rhode Island]103
8[On two sides of the Atlantic]119
9“[To be henceforth free, manumitted and discharged ...]”137
10[A light is set in the road]155
[PART III · THE STORM]
11[The storm comes up in the west and birds fly north]175
12[An Avenging Angel brings the fury of the storm]190
13“[Give us arms, Mr. Lincoln!]”208
14[Came January 1, 1863]223
[PART IV · TOWARD MORNING]
15[When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed]229
16[Moving forward]240
17[Fourscore years ago in Washington]256
18“[If slavery could not kill us, liberty won’t]”272
19[Indian summer and a fair harvest]288
20[The Môle St. Nicolas]294
[Epilogue]309
[Bibliography]311
[Footnotes]

Prologue

I keep my eye on the bright north star and think of liberty.

—From an old slave song