81 pages • 2 hours read
Gary PaulsenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
The preceding informational passage, “Civilian Deaths,” briefly introduces the incomplete record-keeping of civilian casualties during war.
Samuel and Annie come upon signposts marking a junction—travel south 41 miles to go to Philadelphia, or travel east 38 miles to get to New York. Remembering that the average walking person can cover 15 miles in a day, this is a three-day journey either way. Samuel tells Annie that he should first take her to Philadelphia where she’ll be safe, but she refuses. He agrees that they should go to New York together instead of separating. She is dirty and ragged, and her feet were as tough as leather; Samuel feels incredible pride at having acquired this girl as his sister.
They turn towards New York and are flushed out of the woods by two dogs that accompany a loud wagon. They emerge to meet Abner, an old man with a freight wagon. The dogs alert them to the approach of redcoats, so Abner tells them to get into the back of the wagon and pretend to be his grandchildren. The ruse works, and the British pass them by. Afterwards, the three establish that they’re all in opposition to the British. Abner says they’d better tell him their story.
Preceding this chapter is the informational passage, “New York City,” which gives history into the conditions and treatment of the prisoners held by the British in New York. It highlights the neglect, death, and disease that were a hallmark of the system.
Samuel tells Abner about the attack on his settlement and the events that have followed. Abner is skeptical that Samuel alone will sneak past the 20,000–25,000 British soldiers in New York, find his parents, and sneak them out undetected. He offers his help in the endeavor. Samuel asks why Abner would help them; Abner gives a flowery speech about how old age makes you take account of the right and wrong you’ve done in your life and how you want to add to the right to make up for the wrong. When pressed further, he says that he’s too old to physically fight the British, so he does what he can by carrying news, supplies, and sometimes people. Samuel asks if he’s a spy and Abner denies it, saying, “No, no, that’s too hard a word” (108).
“Covert Communication” gives a brief explanation about the ways both the American and British forces disguised and passed information so that it couldn’t be accessed by the enemy.
As they move towards New York, they frequently encounter refugees. Abner stops the wagon to help those who have been injured, doling out bandages and painkillers. He and Samuel agree that these people are probably traveling to Philadelphia for safety. Abner explains that many of them are fleeing not only the violence but also the English way of life—in large part because King George is “tetched, crazy as a bag of hazelnuts […] he’s no man to run a kingdom” (112). A marching troop of British soldiers passes them on the road. Abner suggests they stop somewhere for a proper meal and guides them to an untouched farm along the road. When they arrive, he introduces them and offers the owner textiles and knife sharpening in exchange for water and a meal. The owner, Micah, accepts the knife sharpening, but Samuel catches their non-verbal interactions and believes they already know each other.
As they eat together, Samuel acknowledges that he’s visited before; he asks Micah if he has any news of New York. Micah tells them he only knows that they’ve occupied it and are keeping prisoners there. He and Abner discuss sending a carrier pigeon with a message about the marching troops to Philadelphia. Micah tells them that he’s heard the British are keeping prisoners in the warehouses and mills along the waterfront. Abner, Samuel, and Annie spend the night in the barn.
“Civilian Intelligence” expands on Samuel’s observations in the preceding chapters.
The three travelers come upon what seems to Samuel to be an enormous city. Abner tells them that this is New Jersey, not New York, and that they’ll have to cross the river to get there. As the fog clears, Samuel sees how massive and dense New York is and is intimidated by it; he doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to move through the city the way he does through the forest. They meet up with Matthew, a friend of Abner’s, who takes Abner and Samuel across the river in his boat. Samuel realizes that Abner is part of a large network of people who are working to support the War for Independence. Abner asks if Matthew can take Annie as a daughter in the event he and Samuel are captured or killed.
Abner and Samuel enter New York. Samuel is overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people and size of the buildings. They are surrounded by British soldiers who seem to care little for the people they’ve killed and imprisoned. Incredibly, Samuel finds his mother when he bumps into her on the road. They quickly express relief to see each other again, then make a plan to retrieve Samuel’s father and flee in the night.
In these chapters, Samuel’s mission transforms from a young man’s blind determination to a look into the resistance efforts and cover intelligence operations of the war. Two of these events are fortunate to the point of improbability: that Samuel would stumble upon a member of the American intelligence network and that he would accidentally run into his mother on the street almost immediately after entering the city. This is likely because the mission of the novel is not to explore the drama of a rescue mission, but rather to explore the hardship and violence of the war through the lens of a boy whose experiences prematurely mature him into manhood.
Abner’s introduction to the plot gives the reader a look at the way civilians aided in covert movements and information sharing. Abner’s willingness to help the children and his frequent aid to other refugees contrasts the Hessians and other soldiers who destroy and kill what they find in their paths. This contrast is important because, even though we have Samuel as a representative of the goodness of humanity, we are seeing the narrative through his eyes—the help Abner, Micah, and Matthew give him affirms the presence of good people in even the darkest of worlds. Also note that the idea of distance and travel time comes up again in this chapter—at many points of the novel, Samuel is focused on speed and methodology of travel. In this section, Samuel notes a number of travel means and speeds, even including the pigeon that Abner dispatches to Philadelphia. Attention to these details is important because of how grounded the novel is in the practicalities and challenges of life on a war-torn frontier in 1776.
By Gary Paulsen