Chapter 5 Summary

Jimmie leaves Brentwood early and takes an unexpected direction to the west. He has only his essentials for fencing with him. He meets a mounted trooper who asks if Jimmie can track. Jimmie says yes and tracks a rabbit for him. The officer, Farrell, tells Jimmie that he has been told to find a tracker and that if Jimmie wants the job, it's his. Jimmie thinks it will be good to work for the police and that he'll be fortified against his kinsmen there.Jimmie realizes his mistake when they give him a uniform that doesn't fit properly. He finds that with them he is more a black than his kinsmen. There is little tracking to do, but Jimmie is expected to go with the constable whenever he has to arrest a black person.

The postmaster's son appears one day and says that...