"Where is he now?" she asked, briefly, but without malice in the tone of her voice.
"Probably in New York somewhere," replied Updyke. "I don't think he will try any more 'elopements' for the present."
Winifred looked up in surprise.
"Is that what he calls an elopement?" she asked, blushing deeply. "I thought elopements were by mutual understandings. Are they not?"
"That's what they use to mean before Bill Parkins set the new fashion," he laughed, as she looked up and caught the twinkle in his eyes.
"I hope you see something besides humor in his actions," she replied quite soberly, after a lengthy pause.
Updyke saw at once that Winifred Barbour's old-fashioned purity of heart and mind had been in no way affected by her sad experience.
"Now I've gone and said something that I didn't mean," said he quickly. "No girl, with a mother like you had, will ever need a champion for her code. She will maintain that standard through life. What time are you leaving for home?" queried the big man.
"About nine, I believe."