While James works and sings at Wiley’s livery stable, Daniel Decatur Emmett arrives with the Virginia Minstrels and asks about the singing. Emmett explains that the troupe has lost its tenor, Raleigh Nuggets, who likely fell from a moving train while drunk, and says James’s voice is even better. Because Emmett urgently needs a replacement singer, he offers to buy James.

Wiley is briefly unsettled because James is not legally his to sell, but Wiley also knows James is in his possession and can be treated as property. Emmett presses the advantage by offering two hundred dollars and insisting he cannot pay more. Wiley asks how a black man could appear in a minstrel company, and Emmett explains that the performers wear blackface and can darken James further so audiences will not notice.

Once Wiley agrees, Emmett asks for a bill of sale. Wiley clearly dislikes creating written proof of the transaction, but he has to proceed, so he sends Easter to fetch paper, pen, and ink. As Wiley completes the sale, James watches in silence and reflects that no one asks for his wishes; he is treated as a valuable animal because he can sing, not as a person with any say in his future.

After Emmett counts out the money, Wiley formally presents James to his “new master.” Emmett introduces himself and then shocks both Wiley and Easter by extending his hand to James for a handshake. James returns the gesture, recognizing Emmett as strangely open and nonthreatening, though still fully participating in his sale. Emmett then gathers James into the group, and the Virginia Minstrels lead him out of the stable as their new tenor.