"Let's go down to dinner," she suggested. "You must be famished after your long ride."
At the table, the conversation touched many matters relating to the happenings in the lives of the long separated families. Madelene plied her knife and fork industriously, and jumped from topic to topic, expressing a lively interest in all the events in Ithaca.
"And your brother, dear?" she asked her hostess. "Is he still at the lake place?"
Helen threw a quick glance at her husband, whose lips sank at the corners, his face coloring to a deep red.
When his sister asked the question, the glass from which the elder had been drinking struck the table sharply, as though he wished to emphasize his displeasure.
"Yes, he lives there," he broke in. "In your father's old place, Fred. His lease is not up for almost a year."
"Helen wrote me he had the Skinner girl and her baby with him," said Mrs. Graves. "Wasn't that a funny thing for him to do, Ebbie?"
Waldstricker pushed back angrily.
"Funny! Funny!" he ejaculated. "It isn't decent, and I've told him so, too."
Frederick's face flushed, and he toyed nervously with the silver at the side of his plate.