Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/292



UTH could see dull eyes in a big, stupid face. The man said something with the inflection of a question. She could not make out the words, but obviously he was asking if anyone was alive under the car. So Ruth answered. The face disappeared; and she heard consultation. Soon several men tramped in the water and thrust timbers under the side of the car and tilted it. Large, rough hands reached under and caught Ruth and pulled her out.

She sank limp when the hands released her, gently enough, and laid her upon the sloping bank above the stream. The man who had rescued her had four companions, all of them Russians. They engaged themselves immediately in dragging out Captain von Forstner and then exploring under the car. But they found no one else. Ruth discovered the driver lying a rod or so beyond her and farther up the slope. Plainly he had been thrown out and the car had crushed him. The Russians had seen him before they had come to the car, and when Ruth made signs to them to go to the man they shook their heads, repeating a sentence which meant—she had no doubt—that the man was dead. They repeated the same words about von Forstner.

Ruth struggled up, dizzily, to find herself battered and