Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-09-19
j.
A Lingual Mystery
IOrlGinal.1

ernman, canOeiSt, was spending his sum-
mer vacation in a canoe and tent.
He was lying one afternoon on his
back smoking his pipe on the bank of
a stream, his canoe moored to tree
on the margin, enjoying the delightful
rustic of the leaves and the occasional
lowing Of distant COW or the twltter
of bird, when he<was startled at hear
ing near by woman's voice repeating
one of the odes of Horace. At first he
thought 1t must come from some stu
dent from a neighborlng college, but
he remembered that there was no col
lege, except the one he hailed from,
within many miles. He had no time
to wonder further, for a young girl not
more than sixteen years old suddenly
came into view. She was strolllng
aimlessly, plucking a low hanging leaf
or STOPPING to pluck!a wild flower. EVIL
IDENTIFY unconscious of his presence TIL
within a few yards Of him. Then she
started and stared at him. He rose
and took off his hat.
II confess" he said, "that am sur
prised to find girl in these woods so
TAR from any naDltatlOn.
The girl stood looking, dazed, at the
rencontre, but said nothing.
perhaps you are studying botany"
the professor added, land have wan
dered away from your class"
II don't know what that Is, replied
the girl.
"Singular," he said, partly to him
self, partly to her, that you should
know Latin and not know the meaning
of the word botany"
II don't know what that Is either
The professor looked at her incredu-
lousy. mot know Latin? why, you
have been repeating my favorite ode
of the poet Horace"
Il never heard Of him."
Here was a puzzle. The girl spoke
with evident sincerity, and there was
no apparent reason why she should
speak an untruth.
"Well," he said presently, ''be that
as it may, you are certainly far from
any house. Where do you belong"
The girl knit her brows and seemed
to try to recall something. Then she
said plaintively, II don't remember"
Something was wrong with her men,
tai equipment, and she must be taken
to her friends If they could be found,
and, If not, somewhere where she would
be cared for. Swain catechised her
till he made up his mind that she could
tell him nothing, then put her into his
canoe, pointed It down stream and be-
gan to paddle for home. Had he not
been curious to discover how a girl
who did not know the meaning of the
word Latin could repeat poetry in that
language he might have left her with
some farmer on his way. As it was,
he designed taking her to the univer
sity town where he lived and call
conference of his colleagues to sit on
the case with a view of learning If
she were lingual prodigy.
He padded forty miles and at sun
set tying his canoe to its accustomed
landing, took the girl home and put
her In charge Of his mother.
During the night he heard a voice
and, going to his door, listened. The
girl was repeating in the original
Greek passages which, he recognized,
were from Anabasis of Xenephon.
Great was the young professors as
tonishment, but 1t was greater when
she suddenly turned to repeating
words which he knew to be Hebrew.
gasp, Il had better resign my chair in
her favor"
The next morning he sent for several
Of the professors who were at home
to meet him at his house. He intro
duced the girl and asked her to repeat
what he had heard the night before,
but she was apparently not conscious
that she had repeated anything. The
men who had been summoned went
away, but during the afternoon Swain,
hearing the girl repeating lines in San
skirt, called one of them, who happened
to be passing, and proved what he had
claimed. There was a meeting Of lin
gusts at SWANS home that evening
to talk the matter over, but with no
satisfactory result.
An advertisement was inserted in
several local papers describing the
case, and in a few days the physician
Of hospital near where the girl had
been found appeared and identified her
as patient who had wandered away
from the institution. But he gave no
explanation Of her ability to recite in
the ancient languages. She had been
brought to the hospital by one who
had found her wandering as Swain
had found her. The doctor took
her back with him, but Swain never
lost sight of her for two years, when
suddenly her memory returned to her
and he got his explanation. She had
lost her parents when a child and had
been taken In by clergyman, pro-
found linguist, who was accustomed to
walk the floor Of his study repeating
his favorite authors in the original
text. The girl, having remarkable
memory, had learned them from hear
ing them often repeated. After the
clergyman's death she had had long
illness that had unsettled her brain.
Nlma Redford-such was the girls
name-completely recovered her health
and received an education which came
from an interest excited by the mys-
terry that hat surrounded her. She
was offered free tuition at the college
near where she was found, and purse
was raised for her maintenance. She
developed remarkable ability for &C.
curing languages and became prof.
Client In q number of them. She is