ves, which he said had come under his own
observation.

At this juncture the scene was indeed a most striking one. The
laughing, joking, swearing, smoking, spitting, and talking, kept up a
continual hum and confusion among the crowd, while the slave-girl stood
with tearful eyes, looking alternately at her mother and sister and
toward the young man whom she hoped would become her purchaser.

"The chastity of this girl," now continued the auctioneer, "is pure.
She has never been from under her mother's care. She is virtuous, and
as gentle as a dove."

The bids here took a fresh start, and went on until $1800 was reached.
The auctioneer once more resorted to his jokes, and concluded by
assuring the company that Isabella was not only pious, but that she
could make an excellent prayer.

"Nineteen hundred dollars."

"Two thousand."

This was the last bid, and the quadroon girl was struck off, and became
the property of Henry Linwood.

This was a Virginia slave-auction, at which the bones, sinews, blood,
and nerves of a young girl of eighteen were sold for $500; her moral
character for $200; her superior intellect for $100; the benefits
supposed to accrue from her having been sprinkled and immersed,
together with a warranty of her devoted Christianity, for $300; her
ability to make a good prayer for $200; and her chastity for $700 more.
This, too, in a city thronged with churches, whose tall spires look
like so many signals pointing to heaven, but whose ministers preach
that slavery a God-ordained institution!

The slaves were speedily separated, and taken along by their respective
masters. Jennings, the slave-speculator, who had purchased Agnes and
her daughter Marion, with several of the other slaves, took them to the
county prison, where he usually kept his human cattle after purchasing
them, previous to starting for the New Orleans market.

Linwood had already provided a place for Isabella, to which she was
taken. The most trying moment for her was when she took leave of her
mother and sister. The "Good-by" of the slave is unlike that of any
other class in the community. It is indeed a farewell forever. With
tears streaming down their cheeks, they embraced and commanded each
other to God, who is no respecter of persons, and before whom master
and slave must one day appear.

CHAPTER III

THE SLAVE SPECULATOR.

Dick Jennings the slave-speculator, was one of the few Northern men,
who go to the South and t