Summary

Chapter 11. “A Flicker of Light; and Again Darkness” is the opening chapter of Book Two and finds all things well on the Bone plantation. Each member of the black community takes turns feeding their schoolteacher, having to rotate the same plate and fork between them for lack of any other utensils. Ned has become literate from his teachings, but Jane does not attend classes. Mr. Bone and his anti-slavery Republican Party are aiding local black leaders in the restructuring of the south, but their efforts are being hindered by violent white groups like the Klan and the Camellias of Luzana.

One day, Bone announces that Colonel Dye, the former owner of the plantation, has repurchased the land with the financial help of northerners. Dye’s return provokes the sudden flight of many blacks as...