Mohave County miner., 1890-04-05
LEAPED TO DEATH.


gusa veccha, 10 Sutorina, which is
called Konavjs, and Is noted far and
wide for the beauty Of its women and
the valor Of its men. Faces and forms
of antique Grecian mold are by no
means rare among the inhabitants Of
this picturesque region, and this Is the
moro surprising since their neighbors.
the Herzegovinisns and the Bosnians,
are n9t ~ al prepossessing In misn or
feature.
About the middle Of the last century,
while Konavjs still formed q part Of
the republic Of Ragasa, the family
Radovic settled In the frontier village
OF Uvjece The possession Of the ham,
let had long been bone Of contention
between the Bosnian vizier and the re-
public Of Ragasa- The little republic
had at last been forced TO give up the
struggle and abandon Uvjece to the
Turks The villagers were naturally
dissatisfied with the result, and Minko
kadovic, the head Of the family, was
active in keeping up the discoutent
He persuaded his neighbors to consider
themselves citizens Of Ragisa, and to
resist with arps every attemp. on ths
part Of the Turkish agas OK beys to
collect taxes.
Minko had two daughters. The
elder kosara. was . lovely girl Of IL,
the other. Ljubica, . child of IL. Ko-
sara was the fairest maiden In the vii
lage. and had no end Of admirers
among the young men. Her most
eager suitors were two friends Of her
father named Stanko and Toma. Stan
ko was refugee, who, for some rea-
son, bad 6ed from Turkish vengeance
and found an asylum In Uvjece. His
ugly. weathsr-bsaten face wore an ex-
pfeasion Of vicious cunning, and there
was nothing In his appearance or dis.
position TO win upon the young girl.
Toma, on the other hand, was q far
more agreeable character, but still he
was nothing more than a good friend
TO kosars- She was still heart-whole,
and, as her father made no effort to ins
nuehce her choice, neither Stanko nor
1Qma received any encouragement.
Things stood in this way when one
bright September morning Turkish
aga with two companions appeared in
Uviece and demanded the deserina
(tenth) and the harass (poll-tax). The
three friends acted as spokesmen for
the villagers, and boldly declared
that Qvjece belonged TO kagusa, and
would never pay taxes to the Turks.
The enyaged aga drew his sword. but
before he could make use Of the weapon
Stanko barred his scimitar, and with
ope stroke cut Of the officers head.
Ainko and Toma, for their part. threw
themselves upon bis companions aud
cut them down In an instant. Then
stapto promptly set 10 work to plum
der the bodies.
They found rich booty. The pock-
cts Of the fallen aga were full OF money,
the weapons Of the soldiers we're set
with precious stones, and the horses
were richly caparisoned with silver
mounted harness and gold-broidered
cloth. The loot was taken to the
houss Of Radovic to be divided. Stan.
kos face wore its ugliest leer as be
spread the rich trappings on the floor,
and Toma investigated the contents OF
the purse. while Minko looked on with
satisfied smile. Ljubicz, nesting
clcse TO her father, and Kosara, lean
Ing carelessly against the wall, watched
with attentive interest the result Of the
investigation.
Three hundred and sixty three
ducatsln cried Toma at length, in de-
light ''That'll make fine dowry for
yoy, Kosara.
How soT replied the maiden in as
tonishYent- The spoil belongs equal
" to all, and father gets but third;
besides, you seem to forget, my dear
little sister has claim as well as /"
'Ill not touch my part exclaimed
TomA with enthusiasm. II give it to
the lovely kosars.n
But can't accept your present."
returned the girl, quietly.
Hight you are interposed Stanko.
.kosafa's heart Is not to be won with
ducsty.n
Who said 1t was'" retorted Toma,
10 an angry tone. do you think I'd
Try 70 wtp Kosara with moheyi"
II LOOKS little that way" replied
6tsnko, his face disfgured with .
hi4eous sneer.
Tqma, now thoroughly enraged, was
about TO turn upon his rival, when
Atpko interfered And restored peace.
Lot there be no quarreling," he
said, In . conciliatory tone. THE
deed We have committed was perhaps
rash and ill-considered. but 1t can't be
helped now. and 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 aga Is missed the Turks over
yonder In Trebiuje will commence an
Investigation, and II they discover the
real state OF the case wen 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
peighboring village that he had set out
for Uvjece and had never returned the
Turks directed their march TO that
place. The approach of one hundred
troopers naturally awakened the great
est Slarm ip the hamlet. There was no
doubt the Turks were coming to avenge
the murdered aga. The terrified VII
layers were on the point Of flying
across tbe 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-
fied out to meet the enemy.
About quarter Of mile from the
village the peasants seereted them
selves behind the rocks which lined
both sides Of the road. and as the