The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1890-06-13
LEApED TO DEATH.

called konayie. and Is noted far and
wide for the beauty of its women and
the v,tlor of It's men. Faces aud forms
of antique Grecian mold are by no
means rare among the inhabitants Of
this picturesque region. and this Is the
mnr. surprising since their neighbors.
the Hefzesovinians and the Bosnians.
are not at all prepossessing in mien or
feature.
About the middle of the last century.
while Konavie still formed part Of
the republic of Ragtisa. the family
Radovic settled In the frontier village
of Uviece. The possession of the ham
let had long been bone of contention
between the Bosnian yizier and the re-
public of Ragusa. The little republic
had mt last been forced to give up the
struggle and abandon Uvjeee to the
Turks. The villagers were naturally
dissatisfied with the result, and Minko
a!ovic. the head of the family was
active in keeping mp the discomfort.
lie persuaded his nei@hbors to consider
themselves citizens of RaguSa. aud 10
resist with arms every attempt on the
part OF the Turkish agas or beys To
collect taxes.
Minko had twn daughters. The
elder kosara, was a lovely girl of Il; (;
the other. Ljuhica. a child of IL. Ko-
sara was the fairest maiden in the H.
la.e. and had no end of admirers
among the Young men. Her most
eager suitors were two friends of her
father named Stanko aud Tnna. STAN
ko was refugee. Who. for some rea-
son. had fled from Turkish vengeance
aud found AN ASYLUM in UNjcee. His
ugly. weather-beaten face wore an eX-
preston of vicious cunning. aud there
was nothing in his appearance or dis
position To win upon the Young girl.
1oma, on the other hand, WAS far
more agreeable character. but still he
WIS nothing more than good friend
To Kosara. She was still heart-whole.
and. as her father made no effort 10 in
iuence her choice. neither Stauko nor
Toma received any encouragement.
Things stood in this way when one
bright September morning a Turkish
aga with two companions appeared in
Uyjece and demanded the deseriua
eteuth) and the haiass (poll-taN). The
three friends acted rs spokcsmen for
the Villagers. ana boldly declared
that Usiece belonged 10 Ragusa. and
would never pay taxes TO the Turks.
The enraged aga drew his sword hut
HfAFAG fAt NNhtt tttAhE Ai-ff VI AAtN W ~ tfNiA
Stanko barred his seinitar and with
one stroke cnt of the officers head.
Minko and Toma. for their part. threw
themselves upon his companions aud
cat them down in an Instant. Then
Stanko promptly set 10 work To plum
der tile bodies.
They found IA rich booty. The pock-
cts of the fallen aga were full OF money,
the Weapons of the soldiers We're set
with precious stones. aud the horses
We're richly caparisoned with silver
mounted harness and gold-broidered
cloth. The loot was taken to the
house of RaluVic To be divided. Stan
kos face wore its ugliest leer AS he
spread the rich trappings on the floor
and Toma Investigated the contents of
the purse, while Miuko looked on With
a satisfied smile. Liubiea nesting
close TO her father. aud Kosara lean
ing carelessly against the wall. watched
with attentive interest the result of the
investigation.
Three hundred aud sixty three
ducatsi' cried Toma at length, in de-
light. "That'll make "A fine dowry for
you. Kosara.
How SOP" replied the maiden in as
tonishment. ''rhe spoil belongs equal
ly 10 all, aud father gets but "A third I:
besides, you seem to forget. my dear
little sister has claim as we'll as [. .
I'm not touch my part, exclaimed
Toma, with enthusiasts. II give it to
the lovely kosara."
But | can't accept your present, y
returned the girl. quietly.
Right you are, > interposed Stanko.
''Kosara's heart is not to be won with
ducats."
"Who said ii wasPn retorted Toma,
in an angry tone. do YOU think Id
try to win Kosara with money?n
1t looks little that way" replied
Stanko, his face disiigured with a
hideous sneer.
Toma. now thoroughly enraged. was
about TO turn upon his rival. when
Minko interfered and restored peace.
Let there be no quarreling," he
said. in a eonciliatory tone. THE
deed we have committed was perhaps
rash aud ill-considered, but it can't be
helped now. aud we shall have to
stand together. aud the best thing we
can do is TO consider how we can avert
the evil consequences of our act. For
when the aga is missed the Turks over
yonder in Trebiuie will commence an
investigation, and if they discover the
real state of the case we'll have TO pay
dearly for it."
The long consultation which followed
brought the friends to no other con-
clusion than to quietly await develop
ments.
The disappearance of the aga was
soon remarked in Trebinje, and his
friends became uneasy. Learning in II
neighboring village that he had set out
for Uviece and had never returned the
Turks directed their march to that
place. The approach of one hundred
troopers naturally awakened the great
est alarm in the hamlet. There was no
doubt the Turks were coming to avenge
the murdered aga. The terrified VIII
layers were on the point of flying
across the Roumanian border, but
Minko urged them rather to draw the
Turks into ambush and receive them
with bullets. His counsel prevailed.
and all the able-bodied men in the
place. about twenty in number, hur-
ried ont to meet the enemy.
About "A quarter of u mile from the
village the peasants secreted them
selves behind the rocks which lined
both sides of the road, and rs the
Turks approached. opened upon them
with a deadly voliey. Before the
MoSiems had recovered from ,neir as
tonishment the Christians had reload
ed and fired i second time, then fol-
lowed two volleys from their pistols.
and finally the attacking party rushed
our from it's ambush. and with drawn
scimitars fell upon the thirty Turks
who were vet able to fight. In the hand
to-hand conflict which followed our
three friends fouUht side by side To-