His voice was even more ominous than his face. She came and sat down by his side, when she had removed her hat. He put his hand on her head and drew her toward him.
"Did Mr. Badger come home with you, Winnie?" he asked, and his voice was slightly tremulous.
"Yes, father. I know I stayed a little late, but it was so hard to get away while so much was going on. I don't know when I have had so pleasant an evening. And besides, it was hard for Buck to get away, and we had arranged for him to come home with me. The festivities had not ended when we left."
"Buck Badger must never come home with you again!" he said, with a firmness and suddenness that took all the color out of her cheeks, and seemed to take all the breath out of her body. She sat still, as if frozen by the statement, while a scared look filled her eyes. Then she partly roused herself.
"What—why do you say that?"
"I have learned that he is not fit to associate with you—is not fit to associate with any girl!"
"What have you heard, father?" she demanded, in a trembling voice. "I know that whatever it is, it isn't true, for Buck is fit to associate with any girl!"
She half-expected him to refer to the fracas of the evening before in the campus.
"If there is one thing on which I am determined, it is that my daughter shall never marry a drunkard!"
"Buck isn't a drunkard!"