The uncle was therefore compelled to give them up to the officers of the law,
and they were separated from him. Jane, the oldest of the girls, as we
have before mentioned, was very handsome, bearing a close resemblance
to her cousin Clotelle. Alreka, though not as handsome as her sister,
was nevertheless a beautiful girl, and both had all the accomplishments
that wealth and station could procure.
Though only in her fifteen year, Alreka had become strongly attached
to Volney Lapie, a young Frenchman, a student in her father's office.
This attachment was reciprocated, although the poverty of the young man
and the extreme youth of the girl had caused their feelings to be kept
from the young lady's parents.
The day of sale came, and Mr. Morton attended, with the hope
that either the magnanimity of the creditors or his own little farm
in Vermont might save his nieces from the fate that awaited them.
His hope, however, was in vain. The feelings of all present
seemed to be lost in the general wish to become the possessor
of the young ladies, who stood trembling, blushing, and weeping
as the numerous throng gazed at them, or as the intended purchaser
examined the graceful proportions of their fair and beautiful frames.
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