Wash slowly heals while Titch repairs the flying apparatus, telling Wash of his progress in the evenings. Wash takes down books to look at illustrations during the day and glimpses the inflated balloon on the peak. Wash is worried that his gruesome wounds have made him a “ruined creature” with no future use (83).

Titch asks Wash why he thought he was in Dahomey; Wash’s superstitious beliefs trouble Titch, who insists there is no life after death. Because of Wash’s injuries, they send a slave woman named Esther over to do the cooking, but Philip is unhappy with her food.

Philip dines with Erasmus, and Titch and Wash accompany him. There are other field slaves serving there, including a maimed old woman and child who remind Wash of himself and Big Kit. Philip tells Erasmus and Titch that Mr. Wilde has passed away after an accident in the Arctic, and the brothers are angry with him for keeping the news to himself for so long.

Philip advises that Erasmus should return to England to see to Mr. Wilde’s affairs, leaving Titch to run the estate for a few years, prompting a distraught Titch to leave the room.