From these evening meetings, John earns the nickname “Nightjohn.”

John traces letters into the dirt teaching Sarny what they look and sound like. For the next few nights, Sarny and John meet in the middle of the night, when the rest of the slaves are asleep. Sarny knows nothing of letters or numbers, except that they are dangerous. He promises to trade her letters, the knowledge of reading and writing. She asks John what he could possibly trade.

She remembers the tobacco she still has stored in her pocket. Knowing that John came it naked, Sarny knows that he obviously has nothing to trade but, at the same time, she is intrigued by his question. That night, in the sleeping barracks, John calls out and asks if anyone has any tobacco to trade. She wonders why Waller would buy a slave that is obviously difficult to train. Immediately, Sarny sees the scars that criss-cross new slave's back. Waller has stripped John naked and forced him to run through the dirt, pulling the cart by his neck. Waller is a cruel master who regularly beats his slaves. The next day, she sees this new slave named John attached to Waller’s horse cart pulling his new master back home.

Sarny is intrigued but knows better than to ask any questions. One day while Sarny is outside the big house, she overhears Waller’s wife complaining that her husband has spent $1,000 on a new slave. The story is narrated by Sarny, a slave on the Waller plantation. Urn:oclc:733818617 Republisher_date 20120919132607 Republisher_operator Scandate 20120918225152 Scanner by Gary Paulsen is set in the South before the Civil War. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 17:02:16 Bookplateleaf 0006 Boxid IA157501 Boxid_2 CH118101 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Donor

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen