Neither the presence of the uncle nor young Lapie could at all
lessen the gross language of the officers, or stay the rude hands
of those who wishes to examine the property thus offered for sale.
After a fierce contest between the bidders, the girls were sold,
one for two thousand three hundred, and the other for two thousand
three hundred and fifty dollars. Had these girls been bought
for servants only, they would in all probability have brought
not more than nine hundred or a thousand dollars each. Here were
two beautiful young girls, accustomed to the fondest indulgence,
surrounded by all the refinements of life, and with the timidity
and gentleness which such a life would naturally produce,
bartered away like cattle in the markets of Smithfield or New York.
The mother, who was also to have been sold, happily followed her husband
to the grave, and was spared the pangs of a broken heart.
The purchaser of the young ladies left the market in triumph,
and the uncle, with a heavy heart, started for his New England home,
with no earthly prospect of ever beholding his nieces again.
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