Summary: Chapter XXXIX
Cassy devises a plan to make Legree think that ghosts
haunt the garret of the house. Then she and Emmeline conspicuously
attempt an escape, running from the house and into the nearby swamp.
The overseers order a hunt, and while the household searches for
the women, they slip back into the house and into the garret, where Cassy
has been hoarding food and supplies. Cassy and Emmeline can remain
safely in the garret, for Legree and the others will attribute any
noises they make to the “ghosts” and will never dare to venture
upstairs to investigate.
Summary: Chapter XL
“Oh, Mas’r! . . . Do the worst you can,
my troubles’ll be over soon; but, if ye don’t repent, yours won’t
never end!”
See Important Quotations Explained
Unable to act on his fury over Cassy and Emmeline’s escape,
Legree directs his wrath toward Tom. He suspects that Tom knows
something about the women’s plan and sends for him for questioning.
He tells Tom that he will kill him if Tom does not tell
him what he knows about the women’s escape, but Tom says that he
would rather die than speak. Legree pauses for a moment, as if good
and evil were battling inside his heart, but evil wins. Legree beats
Tom all night, and then he orders Sambo and Quimbo, the overseers,
to continue the beating. Tom prays and remains pious to the end,
touching Sambo and Quimbo’s hearts. They believe him when he tells
them of Jesus. Tom prays that their hearts can be saved.
Summary: Chapter XLI
“Witness, eternal God! . . . [F]rom this
hour, I will do what one man can to drive out this curse of slavery
from my land!”
See Important Quotations Explained
Two days later, George Shelby, Mr. Shelby’s son, arrives
at Legree’s plantation. He has spent much time searching for his
beloved former slave after the death of his father. George finds
Tom near death, but Tom is delighted to see “Mas’r George” after
their long separation, and he dies a contented man. George takes
Tom’s body and tells Legree that he will have him tried for murder.
Legree points out that no whites witnessed the flogging, and thus
the case could not go to court. George strikes him and knocks him
to the ground. The other slaves plead with him to buy them, but
he cannot. As he leaves, he resolves to do all he can to abolish
slavery.
Summary: Chapter XLII
Cassy, disguised as a Creole Spanish lady, escapes from
the plantation with Emmeline. They board the same boat as George
Shelby, who notices Cassy. Fearing that he sees through her disguise,
she tells him everything. George promises to protect her to the
best of his abilities. The passenger in the next cabin, a French
woman named Madame de Thoux, asks George questions about his home and
realizes that George Harris, Eliza’s husband, is her brother. Madame
de Thoux was born into slavery like her brother, but she was later
sold to a kind man who took her to the West Indies, set her free,
and married her. Her husband died only recently. Cassy, too, has
listened to George Shelby’s story, and when she hears his description
of Eliza, she realizes that Eliza may be her daughter.
Summary: Chapter XLIII
Cassy, Emmeline, and Madame de Thoux travel to Montreal,
where George and Eliza Harris are living. George works in a machinist’s shop,
and Eliza has given birth to a second child, a daughter. The five
reunite with tears and joy. Madame de Thoux’s husband has recently
died and left her a great fortune, which she offers to the family.
From Canada, they sail to France, where they live for a few years
before returning to the United States. In a letter to one of his friends,
George advocates the immigration of blacks to Liberia, a West African
nation founded by private organizations and the U. S. government
in order to resettle freed slaves. George and his family immigrate
to Liberia and are not heard from again.
