Tom sprang back and confronted his father:
"Forbid!"
Helen lifted her head:
"Yes," the father said with bated breath, "in the name of the law—by all that's pure and holy, by the memory of the mother who bore you and the angels who guard the sanctity of every home, I forbid you!"
The boy squared himself and drew his figure to its full height:
"You're my father! But I want you to remember that I'm of age. I'm twenty-two years old and I'm a man! Forbid? How dare you use such words to me in the presence of the woman I love?"
Norton's voice dropped to pitiful tenderness:
"You—you—don't understand, my boy. Helen knows that—I'm right. We have talked it over. She has agreed to go at once. The carriage will be at the door in a moment. She can never see you again"—he paused and lifted his hand solemnly above Tom's head—"and in the name of Almighty God I warn you not to attempt to follow her——"
He turned quickly, picked up the fallen bag and coat and added: