Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/301

 where, a moment later, her bags were brought. Examination proved that they had served to keep her packed clothing dry; and, with the maid's assistance, Ruth took off her soaked garments. The maid took down her hair and brushed it out to dry; another maid appeared with the stimulant which Adler had promised and also with hot broth and biscuit. Ruth took this gladly and felt stronger. She let herself relax, half dressed, in a chair while the maid fanned and brushed her hair. From the window she saw a car coming to the manor with von Forstner's body; a few moments later she heard the feet of bearers pass her room door. They appeared to take him into apartments just beyond—those which had been his own, undoubtedly. Ruth instructed the maid to do her hair and she would finish dressing.

Dismissing the maid, she remained alone in the room. She had kept with her the papers which von Forstner had carried, and while she had been under observation she had refrained from examining them. Now she opened the packets and found that those papers which had lain inside were almost dry; and swiftly spreading them before her she saw that they appeared to be typewritten observations upon economic matters of the character which a neutral Norwegian gentleman might make. They must be, in fact—Ruth knew—cipher memoranda of very different matters; they would probably not contain any summaries, for von Forstner could carry all summaries in his head. He would have committed to writing only details and items—some of them petty, taken by themselves, but others of more importance. They would have to do with conditions in France, but while meant for German infor-