the story makes mostly light work of national differences, but the penultimate letter from dr. staub, the deutschland-über-alles fanatic, sounds a jarring note of reality. james gives a final letter from miranda to soften the harshness of staub's rants—and the similar harshness of james' attitude towards germany. but readers today can't help but remember how staub's words would find terrible fulfillment in the bloody first half of the 20th century.