"Tell me what?"
"Now that I know you are married in all that word means and I have failed to save you from it—I must give you the proofs that you demand. I must prove to you that Helen is a negress——"
A sudden terror crept into the young eyes:
"You—you have the proofs?"
"Yes!" the father nodded, placing his hand on his throat and fighting for breath. He took a step toward the boy, and whispered:
"Cleo—is—her mother!"
Tom flinched as if struck a blow. The red blood rushed to his head and he blanched with a death-like pallor:
"And you have been afraid of Cleo?"
"Yes."
"Why?"