Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/273

 of that name who had lived in Onarga; Ruth had gone to high school with her and had known her well. During the early days of the war, Luise had told Ruth about her relatives in Germany—her grandfather, who had lived near Losheim until he died the winter before, and her two cousins, both of whom had been killed fighting. Ruth did not resemble Luise Brun in any way; and she did not imagine that she could go to Losheim and pass for Luise; but when questioned about herself, she had far more detailed knowledge of Luise's connections to borrow for her own use than she had had of Cynthia Gail's.

Wessels, however, appeared less interested in Ruth's German relatives than in herself. "You have been in America most of your life?" he asked.

"When I was a baby I was brought to Losheim and again when I was a little girl," Ruth said. "My father and mother never forgot the Fatherland."

"Of course not," Wessels accepted, impatient of this loyal protestation and desirous to return to the more personal. "I was saying you are much like an American girl. American girls, I must admit, attract me."

He began speaking to her suddenly in German; and Ruth replied in German as best she could, conscious that her accent was far from perfect.

It appeared to pass with him, however, as the sort of pronunciation to be expected from a girl reared in America.

"How old are you now, Luise?" he questioned familiarly.

"Twenty-five."

"Yet eines mädchen, I warrant."