第12章

You manage to pass the word to Tony to keep up his spirits, and not let them drive him to do anything rash.Toll him I will see that his wife does not get into bad hands.I suppose they will sell the baby too?""Yes, Massa Vincent.Natural the baby will go wid de modder."Vincent watched the list of advertisements of slaves to be sold, and a day or two later saw a notice to the effect that Dinah Morris, age twenty-two, with a male baby at her breast, would be sold on the following Saturday.Ho mounted his horse and rode into Richmond.He had not liked to speak to his mother on the subject, for she had not told him of the letter she had written to Jackson;and he thought that she might disapprove of any interference in the matter, consequently ho went down to Mr.Renfrew, the family solicitor.

"Mr.Renfrew," he said, "I want some money; can you lend it me?""You want money," the solicitor said in surprise."What on earth do you want money for? and if you want it, why don't you ask your mother for it? How much do you want?""I don't know exactly.About eight hundred dollars, I should think;though it may be a thousand.I want to buy a slave.""You want to buy a slave!" repeated Mr.Renfrew."What on earth do you want to buy a slave for? You have more than you want now at the Orangery.""It's a slave that man Jackson is going to sell next Saturday, on purpose to spite the poor creature's husband and drive him to desperation," and Vincent then repeated the whole story of the circumstances that had led up to the sale.

"It is all very abominable on the part of these Jacksons," Mr.

Renfrew said, "but your interference was most imprudent, my young friend; and, as you see, it has done harm rather than good.

If you are so quixotic as to become the champion of every ill-treated slave in the State, your work is pretty well cut out for you.""I know that, sir," Vincent replied, smiling, "and I can assure you Idid not intend to enter upon any such crusade; but, you see, I have wrongly or rightly mixed myself up in this, and I want to repair the mischief which, as you say, I have caused.The only way I can see is to buy this negress and her baby.""But I do not see that you will carry out your object if you do, Vincent.She will be separated just as much from her husband if you buy her as if any one else does.He is at one plantation and she is at another, and were they ten miles apart or a hundred, they are equally separated.""I quite see that, Mr.Renfrew; but, at least, she will be kindly treated, and his mind will be at rest on that score.Perhaps some day or other the Jacksons may put him up for sale, and then I can buy him, and they will be reunited.At any rate, the first step is to buy her.Can you let me have the money? My mother makes me a very good allowance.""And I suppose you spend it," the lawyer interrupted.

"Well, yes, I generally spend it; but then, you see, when I come of age I come in for the outlying estates.""And if you die before, or get shot, or any other accident befalls you," Mr.Renfrew said, "they go to your sisters.However, one must risk something for a client, so I will lend you the money.Ihad better put somebody up to bid for you, for after what has happened the Jacksons would probably not let her go if they knew that you wore going to be the purchaser.""Thank you very much," Vincent said warmly; "it will be a great weight off my mind," and with a light heart he rode back to the Orangery.

Vincent said nothing during the next two days to any of his friends as to the course the Jacksons wore taking in selling Tony's wife;for he thought that if the news got about, some of his friends who had heard the circumstances might go down to the auction and make such a demonstration that Jackson would be obliged to withdraw Dinah from the sale, in which case he would no doubt dispose of her privately.On the Saturday he mounted his horse and rode into Richmond, telling Dan to meet him there.At the hour the sale was announced he went to the yard where it was to take place.

This was a somewhat quiet and secluded place; for although the sale of slaves was permitted by law in Virginia, at any rate these auctions were conducted quietly and with as little publicity as possible.For although the better classes still regarded slavery as a necessary institution, they were conscious that these sales, involving as they did the separation of families, were indefensible, and the more thoughtful would gladly have seen them abolished, and a law passed forbidding the sale of negroes save as part and parcel of the estate upon which they worked, an exception only being made in the case of gross misconduct.Many of the slave-owners, indeed, forbade all flogging upon their estates, and punished refractory slaves, in the first place, by the cutting off of the privileges they enjoyed in the way of holidays, and if this did not answer, threatened to sell them-a threat which was, in the vast majority of cases, quite sufficient to ensure good behavior; for the slaves were well aware of the difference between life in the well-managed establishments in Virginia and that in some of the other Southern States.Handing his horse to Dan, Vincent joined a knot of four or five of his acquaintances who had strolled in from mere curiosity.