Go Down, Moses

"Pantaloon in Black"

Summary

Rider, an incredibly strong and large black man who lives on Carothers "Roth" Edmonds' plantation, is bereaved by the death of his wife. He digs his wife's grave at great speed, and the visitors at the funeral wonder why he is digging his wife into the ground so quickly.

That night, Rider believes he sees his wife's ghost. He returns to work at a sawmill the next day, but after chucking an incredibly large log down a hill, walks off the job and buys a jug of whiskey, drinking copiously. Rider goes to the tool room at the mill and confronts a man named Birdsong, who has been cheating black men in dice for years. Rider cuts Birdsong's throat. The narrative shifts, and the story is now in the home of the local sheriff's deputy.

Rider is quickly tried and taken to the sheriff's cell. He breaks the cell up a good deal. A party of white men arrive, take Rider, and lynch him.


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