The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-19


Been Murdered.
From the PHILADELPHIA Press.
In Southern Dalmatia there is bit OF
coast stretching from Cavtat, kagusa
Vecchia, to SutOrina, which Is called
Konavje. and is noted far and wide for the
t,eauty of its women and the valor Of its
man. Faces and forms of antique Grecian
mold are by no means rare among the
inha bitants Of this picturesque region, ana
this IS the more surprising since their neigh
bors. the Herzeg oveniaus and the Bacchians,
are not at all progressing in mIen or
feature.
About the middle of the last century,
while Konavie still formed part of the
raDublic of Ragusa. the family Radovic set
tied in the frontier village of Uvjece. The
possession of the hamlet had long been a
bone of contention between the Bosnian
Vizier and the republic of Ragusa- The
little republic had at last been forced to
give up the struggle and abandon UVJece 10
the TURKS The villagers were naturally
dissatisfied with the result, and Mirko RADIO
vic, the head of his family, was active IN
keeping uD the discomfort. He persuaded
his neighbors to consider themselves cltl-
zens of Ragusa and t. resist with arms
every attempt on the part OF the turkish
agas or beys to collect taxes. Mlrko had
two daughters. The elder, kosara, was@a
lovely girl of II, the other, LJuDlca, a chlid
of II. Kosara was the fairest maiden IN
tie village, and had no end of admirers
among the young men. Her most eager
slitors were two friends of her father,
named Stanko and Toma. Stanko was a
refugee, who, for some reason, had He'd
from Turkish vengea ce and found an
aiylum in Uvjece His ugly, weather
avD vicious
cunning, and there was nothing in his ap-
pearance or disposition to win upon the
Young girl Toma, on the other hand, was
a fal. more agreeable character, but still he
was nothing more than good friend to
Rosa ra. She was still heart-whole, and, as
her fs,ther made no effort to influence her
choice neither Stanko nor Iona received
any encouragement.
Things stood this way when one bright
September morning a Turkish aga with
two companions appeared in UvJece, and
demanded the desetind tenth and the
haras (poIl tax. The three friends acted
as Spokesman for the villagers, and boldly
declared that Twice. belonged to Ragusa,
and would never pay taxes to the Turks
The enraged aga drew his sword, but be-
fore he could make use of his weapon
Stanko barred his scimitar, and with one
stroke cut off the officers head. Mirko and
Toma, for their part, threw themselves
ia an instant. Then StankO promptly set
to work to plumber the bodies.
They found rich booty. The pockets of
the fallen aga we're full of money, the
weapons of the soldiers were set with
precious stones, and the horses were richly
caparisoned with silver-mounted harness
and gold-embroidered cloth. The loot was
taken TO the house of RadovIc TO be divided.
Stanko's face wore its ugliest leer as he
spread the rich trappings on the floor and
Toma investigated the contents of the
purse, while Mirko looked on with a salts
fled smile. Ljubica, nesting close to her
father, and Kosara, leaning carelessly
against the wall, watched, with attentive
interest, the result OF the investigation.
Three hundred and sixty-three ducats!"
cried Toma at length, in delight. ''Thatll
make fine dowry for you, Kosara."
''How sop replied the maiden, in aston
ishment; ''the spoil belongs equally to all,
and father gets but a third; besides, you
seem to forget my dear little sister has
claim as well as /"
am not touch my part, !" exclaimed Toma,
with enthusiasm; i give it to the lovely
Kosara.n
But can't accept your present." re-
turned the girl quickly.
Fright you are" interposed Stanko.
'sKosara's hearts not to be won with du-
cats"
''Who said it WASP retorted Toma In an
angry tone. "Do you think I'd try to win
Kosara with moneys"
sit looks a little that way" replied
Stanko, his face disfgured with a hideous
sneer.
Toma, now thoroughly enraged, was
about to turn upon his rival, when Mirko
intertered and restored peace.
Is Let there be no quarrelling," he said, in
a conciiatory tone. !" The deed we have
to-day committed was perhaps rash and ill
considered. but it can't be helped now, ard
we shall have to stand together, and the
best thing we can do is to consider how we
can avert the evil consequences of our act
For when the Oga is missed the Turks over
yonder in Treblnje will commence an inves-
tigation, and if they discover the real state
of the case we'll have to pay dear for it"
The long consultation which followed
brought the friends to no other conclusion
than quietly to await developments.
The disappearance of the aga was soon
remarked in Trebinje, and his friends be-
came uneasy. Learning in neighboring
village that he had set out for Uviece and
mad never returned, the Turks directed their
march to that place. The appr oach of 100
troopers naturally awakened the creates
alarm in the hamlet. There was no doubt
that the Turks were coming to avenge the
murdered aga The terrified villagers were
on the point of flying across the Ragusanlan
border, but Mirko urged them rather to
draw the Turks into an ambush and receive
them with bullets. His counsel prevailed.
and all the able-bodied men in the place,
about twenty in number, hurried out to meet
the enemy.
About quarter Of mile from the viii
lage the peasants secreted themselves be.
hind the rocks which lined both sides of the
road, and, as the Turks approached, opened
upon them with deadly voley Before
tie Moslems had recovered from their as
constituent the christians had reloaded and
fired second time, then followed two vol
1eys from their pistols, and finally the at
lacking party rushed out from its ambush
and with drawn scimitars fell upon the
thirty Turks who were yet able to fight. Ii
the hand-to-hand conflict which followed
our three friends fought side by
side. Toma, after cutting down three
of the Turks, was shot while
closing with the fourth. With secre
Joy Stanko saw him fall, for he wa.
now rid of a rival whom he had begun t.
fear. While In this moment he thought o
Kosara he saw directly in front of him
Turk spring forward to strike Mirko from
the rear. One quick blow from Stanko'
flashing steel and the Turk would have
fallen before he could accomplish his deadly
purpose, but Stanko never dealt that blow
He waited until the Mosem had given
Kosarais father a mortal wound, and then