The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-04-24


 mouev-box broken open and rihed Vallee, too. had evidently caught the words, for, starting up. she rushed out, and was followed by her father A number of villagers were standing un- der tree listening to a man whom the nusari recognized as an inhabitant of Nankulam He was talking rapidly and with much gesticulation oiI catch ing si ight of Nallee, he stopped short, and with glance round, asked loudly and ah- ruptly Where Is your father. child? don't know" replied the girl noting with surprise the meaning looks which the villagers exchanged. He went last night to Mankulam to see the mudliya, and has not vet come home. The mudliya has been murdered, said the man, gravely; and the pusari' knife has been found, and 1t Is covered with blood.
 Vallee instantly understood what the man implied With widely opened eyes and parted lips, she stood transtixed to the spot. She knew too well her fathers uncomfortable temper not to feel him capable of any deed however atrocious, when his passions were reused. Yet she loved him fondlv anl sin cereIv, and when she realized the awful nature of the crime with which he was charged she threw herself on the ground and abandoned herself to grief and despair, refusing the comfort of fcred her by the women standing round
 The villagers meanwhile, piled tue bringer of the news with questions He related how the mudliyas little grand son had been present at stormy inter view between his grandfather and the pusari at which the latter had uttered many threats; how, after the pusari had left the house he had returned when the mudlva was alone. and had mur- drrcd him. and then robbed him of all his money and jewels This was proved by the finding ot his knife covered with blood. and by his disappearance he having clearly fled to escape thepenalty of his crime The puSari s rage on hear ing himself charged with such dread- tul deed Was excessive Boiling over with wrath. he turned about in the crowd addressing one and then another with indignant denialS and protests But though he shouted and ravcd and gesticulated no one saw or heard him and at length, seeing how fruitless his efforts to make himself heard were he quieted down and waited to see what would be done next.
 Presently d party of villagers, full ot pleasant excitement and curiosity, started off for Mankulam. the scene of the murder, and the pusari decided to % with them As they went along, he listened with grim, bitter amusement to the remarks his fellow-villagerS made about him His unneighborly hatred of Ivan Eluvan, his violent temper and quarrelsome nature were the subject of general condemnation. It appeared. by what they said, that one and all of the party had long foreseen what his evil passione would bring him to Every man of them believed him to be guilty of the murder, and there was not one to express any doubt or to say good word for him
 In such pleasant converse the party arrived at Mankulam, and went to the headman's house. It was crowded in side and out by an excited, curious throng The pusari made his way into the hut On d bed, in the middle of it, lay the body of the mudliya. A wound in the throat, exposed to view, showed how he had come by his death and in- dications were not wanting that he had struggled hard for life 4 number of women. relatives of the deceased. were shricking in chorus the death-wail over the corpse In the -earner-oi the hut sat young man, minor headman from a neighboring village, bu>ily engaged in inquiring into all the circumstances of the murder He was occupied in mak- ing list, from the statements of the murdered mans relatives of the miss ing articles of jewelry. The strong box from which they had been stolen stood. with it's lid broken before him, hying on the floor beside him was a knife which the pusari immediately recog- nized as his own though how it got there and came to be covered with blood, was more than he could guess As he listened to the questions of the head- man and heard the remarks of the by standers the pusari began to feel kind of grim satisfaction in the fact of his being invisible. so black seemed the case against him He could not but feel that the evidence produced more than justified them all ill believing him to be the murderer.
 As he moved invsihlv about the hut ne suddenly caught -lGht CT Ills enemy Ivan Eluvan, entering the door Ivan was accompanied by his younger broth CT Nalan, Nallees lover, a tall, we'll
 made young man with handsome, pleas ant features. The two men were very unlike each other i'll every way--in tea tures. expression and manner, and no stranger would have thought them to h' brothers On catching sight of Ivan
 the pusari moved close to him and
 watched him keenly He had nerv ous, downcast air very different from his usual hard, bold expression. H. looked furtively and quickly around and the pusari noticed a peculiar ex pression pass over his face as he glanced at the corpse and then hurriedly averted his eyes. 4 thought a suspicion sud denly rushed into the pusari's mind There stood the murderer II was Ivan Eluvan who had taken the mudliya