St. Michaels “wore a dull, slovenly, enterprise-forsaken aspect,” and the village’s mostly drunken inhabitants make it “an unsaintly, as well as unsightly place” (80). A breathtaking meteor shower in March 1833 fills young Frederick with hope, for it seems a divine omen, but the hope is short-lived, and misery ensues. For the first time since his childhood days on the Lloyd plantation, Frederick feels hunger. His master, Captain Thomas Auld, not only starves his slaves but appears “incapable of a noble action” (83).

When “Master Thomas” publicly converts to Methodism in August 1833, Frederick holds out hope that the conversion will inspire more humane treatment of Auld’s slaves. The master’s newfound faith, however, is for appearances only. His “countenance was soured all over with the seemings of piety, and he became more rigid and stringent in his exactions” (85). Frederick has taken the man’s measure and begun to resist in subtle ways. To Auld, the boy has been spoiled and ruined by his Baltimore experience. He needs to be broken.

On New Year’s Day 1834, Frederick makes the seven-mile trek from St. Michaels to the home of Edward Covey, a man notorious on the Eastern Shore for his ability to transform recalcitrant slaves into obedient field hands.