se to Dan, Vincent joined a knot of four
or five of his acquaintances who had strolled in from mere curiosity.

There were some thirty or forty men in the yard, a few of whom had come
in for the purpose of buying; but the great majority had only attended
for the sake of passing an idle hour. Slaves had fallen in value; for
although all in the South professed their confidence that the law would
never attempt by force of arms to prevent their secession, it was felt
that slave property would in future be more precarious, for the North
would not improbably repeal the laws for the arrest of fugitive slaves,
and consequently all runaways who succeeded in crossing the border would
be lost to their masters.

Upon the other side of the yard Vincent saw Andrew Jackson talking to
two or three men who were strangers to him, and who, he guessed, were
buyers from some of the more southern States. There were in all twelve
lots to be disposed of. Of these two or three were hands who were no
longer fit for field work, and who were bought at very low prices by men
who owned but a few acres of land, and who could utilize them for odd
jobs requiring but little strength. Then there was a stir of attention.
Dinah Moore took her stand upon the platform, with her baby in her arms.
The message which Dan had conveyed from Vincent to her husband had given
her some hope, and though she looked scared and frightened as she
clasped her babe to her breast, she was not filled with such utter
despair as would otherwise have been the case.

The auctioneer stated the advantages of the lot in the same business
like tone as if he had been selling a horse.

"Lot 6. Negro wench, Dinah; age twenty-two; with male child. Strong and
well made, as you see, gentlemen; fit for field work, or could be made a
useful hand about the house; said to be handy and good-tempered. Now
gentlemen, what shall we say for this desirable lot?"

One of the men standing by Andrew Jackson bid a hundred dollars. The bid
was raised to a hundred and fifty by a rough-looking fellow standing in
front of the platform. For some time the bidding was confined to these
two, and it rose until it reached seven hundred and fifty, at which
point the man near the platform retired, and there was a pause.

Vincent felt uncomfortable. He had already been round to Mr. Renfrew,
who had told him that he had deputed an agent to buy; and until the man
near the platform stopped he had supposed that he w