110 THE OPPERMANNS bond which has been keeping the Jews of the world together for thousands of years. Uncle Jaques teased Ruth because she so passionately maintained that political unity was the one and only thing that could assure Jewry of a continued existence. The evening was already far advanced, and Berthold had still had no chance of broaching the subject he had so much at heart. He was sure he would never get to the point now. It was a wasted evening. He decided to leave soon. Ruth Oppermann was, just then, relating an experience which had befallen an East-Jewish child. Little Jacob Feibel- mann went to a school attended principally by Nationalist children. The majority of his classmates were members of a Nationalist society. The boys were equipped with rubber truncheons. Weil, one day one of them announced that his truncheon had been stolen. The teacher, indignant that there should be thieves in his class, ordered all the schooI-bags searched. The truncheon was found in little Feibelmann's knapsack. It had obviously been put there surreptitiously. There was wild excitement: Sly boots was the thief. The boy had to leave school. He had been deranged ever since, Ruth went on, he was continually crying, no one could do anything with hirn. When Ruth had finished, Berthold suddenly spoke. He abruptly began to relate his own case. He told them about that lecture on Arminius the German wh ich had really been forced upon hirn, of Dr. Vogelsang's interruption, of the latter's de- mand that he should apologize. He could not prevent his broad, boyish face from taking on a strained, worried look as he told his story. However, he managed to remain calm, manly. In fact he even, now and then, achieved that light and casual air to which he aspired. It would have been a serious setback for hirn if the others had received his story with the same sort of casual air, with the damned indifference of adult, experienced people. But they