The Black Whale

Bob D’Arcy is a Northern abolitionist who convinces old friend Ben Borders, a Texas plantation owner, that his slave Jim, who has taught himself to read and write by looking at words under pictures of objects in books in Borders’ library, should be set free. While en route to a Texas seaport and a ship to Boston, D’Arcy is killed by Mexican bandits. Thus begins a tortuous flight to freedom for Jim, which he knows can succeed only if he can get his hands on a gun.

After learning how to read, a bondsman in Antebellum Texas dreams of being free. However, death is the fate of anyone who attempts to liberate him.

A slave in old Texas learns to read and dreams of freedom, but anyone who tries to help him escape will be killed.

An abolitionist convinces a Texas plantation owner to free his slave Jim, who has become literate through self-education. After the abolitionist is killed by bandits en route to a ship heading to Boston, Jim must undertake a dangerous escape to freedom, knowing he needs to obtain a gun to succeed.