"You know more German than any one of us," said Katharine comfortingly.
"Horrors! Shall I have to talk to him in German?" asked poor Ruth in despair.
"Of course," said Betty. "Didn't Katie say that she couldn't make him understand?"
Ruth would have liked to run and hide, but instead she went slowly down-stairs and walked straight into the parlor without giving herself time to think.
The tall, gray-haired man who rose to meet her was so like the picture in the box that Ruth felt almost as if she knew him, and she would have known just what to say if the dreaded German hadn't embarrassed her. She shook hands with him in silence, and then for a moment struggled to find a conversational opening which shouldn't plunge her into deeper distress.
The kind old man evidently understood her difficulty, for his sad face grew gentle as he said with slow distinctness:
"I can understand English, Fraulein."
He smiled at the extreme relief expressed in Ruth's face and went on speaking.
"I have come so quick as I can from Germany, Fraulein, my little grandchild to see, and I find that I am arrived before my letter gets here. I have seen in Boston Mr. Hamilton, and he has told me how to find his home and that he will come also so soon as he can."
Ruth drew a breath of relief. "If you will excuse me I will send for the baby this very minute," she said, and went quickly from the room.