The slave got away from Zachary’s place that night. He was a big fellow named Spade with one cropped ear. He had splay feet and sometimes walked with a limp. His back was scarred. He was black as a pine at night. He’d tried to run away a couple of times —That was how he got some of the marks you could tell him by⁠— But he’d been pretty quiet now for a year or so And they thought he had settled down. When he got away He meant to kill Zachary first but the signs weren’t right. He talked to the knife but the knife didn’t sweat or heat, So he just got away instead. When he reached the woods And was all alone, he was pretty scared for a while, But he kept on going all night by the big soft stars, Loping as fast as he could on his long splay feet And when morning broke, he knew he was safe for a time.