The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-11-14


80. M ,,i tis d 81 - enxiely
& tie previous 81 ii sas
IN ois MI iden sense of
4 terror knock ing at her heart By the
light OF the moon which penne' t :r;l
D through q small " indow in the hut she
II raw sieirnan extended by her side;; Tor Or,
T E short space 81 time she heard nothing
y tut the noise Of his loud snores. when
suddenly q sort OF shutting sound q. IN
b ode the room struck her IS sotstething
strange. 1T seemed as though some aI 81 Is
mai was crawling along the floor and
4 as she locked with trembling expect
!. sncy toward the direction whence 1 IT I,
came. the. face Of ong slowly rose nsa
4 beside Sleiinan from the other side OF
sfhe low BED on which she lay. She held
her heath. hardly daring to keep her
eves, fixed on him lest the intensitysot
d her paxe should draw Ton IS. attention
~ 8 herself. Af1ash Of something bright.
Il lone-drawn groan, q short struggle.
and then pillow flung over the mouth
which was still capable OF crying out
for help, and brawny muscular arms m
pressing it firmly down till the convul-
y sive heaving ceased. and all was still as
death. 'Tijah closed her, eyes with
one deep shuddering sigh and tainted.
When she regnined her senses. she
feared to move or look Mt first dread1ng
what CHASTITY sight would meet her Ter
She put out her hand and felt about
J. cautiously. The dead form Of sleiuann
was still beside her; the pillow rested!
over the face; in the room no sound,
but below a stealthy passing to and
fro-Tong and his wife preparing to
get rid Of the body.
"'Tiiah paused, thinking what to do:
then she. rose slowly and crept outside.
The door OF the house was open. and
Tong had evidently just gone out. She
caught up sarong. (skirt) which lay
near her on the floor, and flung it over
her head; then, without q backward
glance, she fed through the doorway.
and as fast as her terror stricken limbs
would carry her down to the seashore.
It took no time to unfasten the koleh,
and in a few moments she had grasped
the paddle and had set out in her tiny
boat to row over the miles OF sea which
Law between her and her parents home
in Malacca. Tt was frail bark for
safety; but she felt she could trust to
1t sooner than to those bloodthirsty
creatures she had left behind. A long
? way she rowed, and the next day when
the sun got up and scorched her. she
pulled in her paddle and rolled herself
in her sarong and lay down in the bot
tom OF the boat and slept. She was
aroused by the movement Of her cookie
she'll It was night; a breeze had
sprung up and squall was coming;
white crests tipped the waves and .
heavy bank of clouds ol,scured the star
light, and in few moments q black
pail OF darkness enveloped her. The
wind struck the fragile craft, whirling
It wildly round, and before she could
seize the paddle to try and steadyit, tho
boat capsized, and she was flung into
the angry sea. She struck out boldly
and swan until her Hands touched the
upturned bark to which she chung, en-
deavoring to right it. Poor girl! sho
knew not where she was, how far from
shore, how long her strength would
last. and whether there was any hope Of
succor.
At last the squall passed over and the
water became comparatively calm. but
the moon had not risen and she, could
see nothing. She began to get exhaust
ed and felt that she could not hold on
much longer and would sink and drown
unless Tuan Allah took pity on her.
She thought sadly that she was young
TO die, and prayed for help. A small
thing as light as feather touched her
cheek-n mosquito, sent to save her
life. When she heard the sound which
Tuan cursed just now she knew that
land MUST he quite near, for mosquito
never flies. out to sea. She let go her
anchorage, and, making one more eff
fort, SWAN bravely on, and very soon
her feet touched the beach.
meanwhile those cruel 1nurderers
had finished their work, and before day
light dawned had got rid of every trace
Of their i'll doing. The neighbors in
uuired what had become of Sleiman and
why he had come and gone so sud-
denly. ':a%
"'Oh,' said Tong, he left f,urriedly;
'he took 'Tijah with him and went away
in the kloeh at daybreak to catch q
steamer which would pass there going
to Singapore /
ut was very mysterious affair. and
no one could make out the truth; but
when the police had given up all search,
finding they could prove nothing, quite
unexpectedly the murder was found
out. A man Of the village went into
the Jungle to cut wood, and at midday
he walked down to the creek to wash
after bis food: Coming back through
the swa1npy nnangrovef near the river he |
noticed a very great swarm Of flies!
They were like cloud, they were 30
thick. What have we herer he
thought; some dead animal, perhaps,
and went to see. Sunk In the mud where
the river washed over il at high tide he
found a barrel, from which proceeded
very ,iauseous smell. His curiosity
was aroused, SO he put in his hand;
feeling something hard; he drew # out. ].
It was q skull, the skull Of q man, and /.
projecting from the upper jaw was q
long tooth, like q tusk. .Ahal he cried;
'Sleimani' Ss.s4 II 4
He went and told the police, and they !
came and took the cask, and the MUIR
der was proved, becauAs the clothes