Page:The achievements of Luther Trant - Balmer and MacHarg - 1910.djvu/235

Rh "No; none—ever!" Pierce affirmed confidently, "though her experience in Central America previous to her coming under our care must certainly have been most unusual, and would account for some peculiarity—if she had any."

"In Central America, Dr. Pierce?" Trant repeated eagerly.

"Yes," Pierce hesitated, dubiously; "perhaps I ought to tell you, Mr. Trant, how Iris came to be a member of our family. On the last expedition which my father made to Central America, and on which I accompanied him as a young man of eighteen, an Indian near Copan, Honduras, told us of a wonderful white child whom he had seen living among an isolated Indian tribe in the mountains. We were interested, and went out of our way to visit the tribe. We found there, exactly as he had described, a little white girl about six years old as near as we could guess. She spoke the dialect of the Indians, but two or three English words which the sight of us brought from her, made us believe that she was of English birth. My father wanted to take her with us, but the Indians angrily refused to allow it.

"The little girl, however, had taken a fancy to me, and when we were ready to leave she announced her intention of going along. For some reason which I was unable to fathom, the Indians regarded her with a superstitious veneration, and though plainly unwilling to let her go, they were afraid to interfere with her wishes. My father intended to adopt her, but he died before the expedition returned. I brought the