She did so very modestly and without embarrassment, stating the case and
reviewing the evidence so clearly and so simply that I could see how
every word she uttered was not only amazing but also convincing Kemper.
When she had ended he asked a few questions very seriously:
"Granted," he said, "that the pituitary gland represents what we assume
it represents, how much faith is to be placed in the testimony of a
Seminole Indian?"
"A Seminole Indian," she replied, "has seldom or never been known to lie.
And where a whole tribe testify alike the truth of what they assert can
not be questioned."
"How did you make them talk? They are a sullen, suspicious people,
haughty, uncommunicative, seldom even replying to an ordinary question
from a white man."
"They consider me one of them."
"Why?" he asked in surprise.
"I'll tell you why. It came about through a mere accident. I was waitress
at the hotel; it happened to be my afternoon off; so I went down to the
coquina dock to study. I study in my leisure moments, because I wish to
fit myself for a college examination."
Her charming face became serious; she picked up the hem of her apron and
continued to pleat it slowly and with precision as she talked:
"There was a Seminole named Tiger-tail sitting there, his feet dangling
above his moored canoe, evidently waiting for the tide to turn before he
went out to spear crayfish.
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