The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1927-09-09
By YORKE DAVIS
WNU Service.
Copyright. 1925

began speaking to her just then, quiz
city, authoritatively, and In the Maori
tongue. He was not trying to soothe
her fears, or at least not doing it in
any. way that is commonly practiced
by US modern people. He was giving
her orders, orders which he was pre-
pared to enforce by brute strength If
she should make 1t necessary. SO
much was plain from his manner.
OF course could not understand
word he said. The girl covered at the
voice, but it seemed to reassure her,
for all of that. The wild light In her
eyes died. They became sullen. She
squatted on the floor in corner of
the room. Evidently chairs and their
uses were as strange to her as her
present attitude would have been to
Jane Perkins.
Then began one of the strangest
scenes / ever witnessed. Except for
what could gather from their faces,
and from the infection of his ques-
lions and her sullen, half-defant an
swers, 1t was totally unintelligible to
me. Even the infections told me little,
for the language itself. Is spoken in
queer sort of sing-song, which be-
trayed no family relationship with any
other language ever heard. But In
the doctors face l could read strange
matters-excitement dawning compre-
hension and dawning horror, too. 1t
was strangely tantalizing to know that
this mystery, the clue to which had
vainly sought. was In process of be-
ing unraveled right before my eyes
and was as much in the dark as
ever.
Then, as If the doctor had read my
thoughts, he spoke to the girl in Eng
lish:
"'Fanenna," he said, Il am talking
English. am going to ask you ques-
lions in English, and you will under
stand me- Did you understand what
said them"
The girl nodded. And yet was sure
that if had spoken to her she would
not have comprehended word. 1t
was in its way as strange and perfect
a demonstration of the possibilities of
hypnotism as had ever seen. The
doctor called in Jane Perkins memory
to act as the girls interpreter.
"What is the mans name," the doc
tor asked, "the man who sent you?"
Her answer was two words that
sounded like "Osa Ems" I saw that
for moment 1t puzzled the doctor as
much as it did me. But, the next mo-
ment, evidently, he understood, for his
face lighted rather grimly.
"You came away. did you, without
the thing he sent you to get?"
She nodded.
"And you hadn't been told to kill
the old man? You didn't mean to kill
him when you stole into the house."
She answered with a deep-throated
cultural, even to my ears, unmistak-
ably in the negative.
'"Then why did you kill himy'
She flung her head back, her eyes
blazed defiance and from her lips
poured forth asorrent of speech.
0Qt0 LhC uOSIOIs IL yVu
can understand English, you can talk
it, too. Speak in the same language
am speaking in, and tell why you
killed him."
II was sworn to kill him."
The words came thickly, slowly
clumsily, for tongue and lips were
finding difficulty with them, but they
were clearly and quite intelligibly Eng
lish.
saw the doctors face light up at
the sound of them, for it was the COM
pletion Of the most interesting exper-
iment he had ever tried. The girl
was still submerged, completely, in her
wild, primitive, under-self. She was
no more Jane Perkins than as If she
had occupied another body altogether,
and yet. by the strange hypnotic power
of suggestion, the doctor was COM
polling her to use Jane Perkins knowl-
edge of English to talk with.
"Who swore you to such an oath?"
he asked.
"My mother, when she was dying.
1t was vengeance. He had murdered
my father. He murdered him before
/ was born"
IF it happened before you were
born," said the doctor quickly, then,
unless you knew beforehand that
Henry Morgan was the man you were
sworn to murder, how did you know it
when you found him in that house?"
Out of the front Of her blouse she