Song Yet Sung

In Cambridge City, a crowd of whites gleefully watches “Ducky,” a bedraggled black man, performing in the street, quacking and jumping. People toss coins for the town fixture, “one of those lovable, mentally bent slaves whose master had died long ago and left him to his own devices” (244). After the crowd disperses, Ducky causes Clarence to overturn his wheelbarrow, making Clarence curse and the whites nearby laugh.

As Clarence picks up the fallen goods, Ducky bends down to help, their heads shielded from onlookers. Ducky’s crazy look turns into a steady gaze and he hisses to Clarence, “Blacksmith trouble coming. Right now. Grey horse” (245). Clarence loudly tells Ducky to get away, then sees Stanton riding on a grey horse, heading to the blacksmith.

Liz is hiding in the deep hole underneath the blacksmith shop. Feeling worse than ever, she cannot stop wondering about the meaning of the song the Woman with No Name sang: “The song floated in and out of her consciousness: Way down yonder in the graveyard walk. Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk…Thought my soul would rise and fly…” (246).

Liz experiences strange sensations. She feels a kind of clarity, as if she can see and hear everything in the world.