Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

Linda pines greatly for William, who has gone with Mr. Sands to Washington. After the legislative session, he accompanies him on a trip to the North. Mr. Sands has promised to free William but never specified a date, and Linda wonders whether he will try to escape. However, Mr. Sands writes to Grandmother praising William’s faithfulness and saying that although abolitionists have tried to “decoy him away,” he has remained loyal.

Mr. Sands announces that he’s returning to the South with a new bride. The family is eager to see William, but no letters from him arrive. Grandmother prepares an enormous homecoming meal, but Mr. Sands arrives in the city without William. He sends a servant to tell Grandmother that he has, in fact, run away with help from abolitionists. Still, Mr. Sands is confident that he will soon come back, as life in the North cannot be better than life with him.

Grandmother is distraught rather than happy, thinking that she’ll never see William again. Linda is jealous that her brother is free while she is trapped, although she berates herself for being selfish. Moreover, she’s worried that Mr. Sands will be annoyed at the money he’s lost with William’s escape and take revenge by refusing to free the children.

One afternoon, Linda hears Benny and Ellen asking Grandmother if they will ever see their mother again or live with her. Ellen says she doesn’t even remember what her mother looks like. Suddenly, an elderly neighbor named Aggie comes into the yard; seeing that Grandmother is anxious, she asks what’s wrong, and Grandmother says that William has run away.

Aggie is overjoyed to hear this news, and tells Grandmother she should fall on her knees and pray. All of her children have been sold away, and she will never know where they are. At least Grandmother knows that William has escaped. Linda admires this woman’s ability to take pleasure in William’s triumph even amidst her own woes, and vows to be less selfish.

Soon the family gets a letter from William, saying that although Mr. Sands is a kind master, he has always wanted to be free, and that he will try to earn enough money to bring his family north and create a home for them.

Mr. Sands tells Uncle Phillip that William left brazenly; he even saw him carrying his trunk away, but William claimed he was having it repaired. Mr. Sands blames the corrupting influence of the abolitionists and still feels sure William will return.

Much later, William tells Linda what actually happened: he doesn’t need abolitionists to tell him about freedom, and he decided to run away independently, knowing that Mr. Sands might decide not to free him at any time in the future. He conscientiously refrained from taking any money or belongings when he left, and Linda says that while slave holders call him a “base, ungrateful wretch,” they would have done the same thing. Mrs. Flint is heard to say that she’s glad Mr. Sands has been outwitted by the slaves, and she hopes he will sell the children to a speculator in revenge.