There was something savage in her tone at sound of which Sheila and Ted straightened from their little son's crib and looked to her for explanation.
"She's feared," continued Lucindy, "'cause she knows she done gib dat chile fever takin' him to dem low-down nigger shanties she's allus visitin' at. Dat's what Lila's feared ob."
"She took the baby to—?" It was Ted who tried to question Lucindy. Sheila could not, though she had opened her dry lips for indignant speech.
"Yassah, she sho did—jes befo' he was took sick. She taken him to 'er no 'count yaller sister's—an' 'er sister's chillun's got scarlet fever. I heared it dis mornin'."
"Are you sure, Lucindy? Are you sure?" It was still Ted who pursued the inquiry.
"Deed I'se sho, Marse Ted. She tole me herse'f whar she'd been when she come back wid de baby, an' 'bout how cute an' sweet dey all say he is. Course she didn't know 'bout de fever—it hadn' showed up on dem chillun yit—but she knowed mighty well Miss Sheila wouldn' want our baby in nigger houses no-how. She knowed she was doin' wrong takin' him. I sho did go fo' dat yaller gal, too! She wouldn' never do it no mo'—not while Lucindy's a-livin'!"
Ted turned to Sheila, and the expression of her white face startled him. Much as he loved her, his heart hardened to her as he looked—hardened with a sudden, instinctive suspicion—and when he spoke, his voice was stern:
"Did you know where Lila was taking the baby when she had him out?" he asked. "Sheila, did you know?"