The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-22
A BEAUTY AND A FEUD.
RELATIVES HAVE FOUGHT FOR
THE LOVE OF THIS AFRIDI
BELLE.

Time, Except Last, che welded
slayer.
From the New York Press.
What is perhaps the strangest blood
faud on record has been brought to the
a+tention of the British authorities in
Iarrud, India, away up on the north
western frontier. Although it had
lasted for sixteen years, it was only
nv chance that the officials learned of
# for it Is an Afridi feud, and the
Afridis do not burn with anxiety to
fell the British anything. But the lit
tie matter of a new murder springing
from it happened to reach the ears of
an officious native Sikh policeman, and
as the Sikhs and the Afridis are not
deeply in love with each other, he
seized the opportunity to prod a few
villagers a bit. In doing so he STUN
bed on this extremely remarkable
case.
The feud is purely family matter.
The victims and their murderers al
ways have been near and dear rela-
tives 1t may not be remarkable that
the feud was caused by a woman, but
it certainly is remarkable that every
one of the successive victims was one
of her successive husbands; and still
more remarkable is the fact that she
has had the amiable habit, as fast as a
husband was killed, of marrying his
murderer.
The continuity of this pleasing and
idyllic matrimonial arrangement I'M
happily has been broken by the latest
murder, for, while the victim, as usual,
was her husband the killer was her
son. While this relationship would
not necessarily make even an ordinary
Afridi woman. much less one of the
strength of mind of this one, hesitate,
the British have been brutal enough to
disregard all the established precedents
in the case and actually to hunt for
the young man. They haven't caught
him yet. Heis being passed from hand
to hand in the Afridi country, and al
though mounted men and spies are
securing the country around JamruQ
and Peshawar for him, he has disap-
peared as instantaneously and com
pletely as horse does when an Afridi
gets his eye on it. But he is being
kept too busy to do any marrying.
The woman is real beauty-beautf-
full enough to seem as if nature wish
ed to make up in her one person for
the mistakes that she has made in all
the others, for the average Afridi wo-
men are not delightful and their
charms hardly are great enough to in
spire even an Afridi to do murder.
however easy the function may be to
him. Most of them in their youth look
IKE men, and in their age they look
like hays.
While the Afridi man, being confined
to home market that is heavily
stocked with homely females, perforce
is satisfied with the usual run of his
womankind, he does not lack eyes for
something better. So, when Athira.
VINO Is the heroine of this story, was
less than 10 years old, the men of the
little village near Jamrud, at the head
OF the Swat valley, where she was born,
were all in love with her and each de-
termtned to win her. Her father listed
her value high up and year after year
raised his rates for her heart and
hand. Where other less favored faith
ers were palpably anxious to bereave
themselves, at any and every oppor-
tunfty, of their adored daughters for
the consideration of even a dry COW,
Athira's father grew to love her more
year after year. When she was 10
he loved her three, cows and two bull
locks worth. In the next year his love
had grown by three more cows. When
she was IA, his bond parental heart
could not bear the wrench of losing
her short of whole herd of cows and
a horse and government Snider rifle.
That was in the days. when a true
elastic conscience the light burden of
a dozen murders and face the more
serious chance of being murdered him
self, for the sake of getting possession
of a broken down army musket And
a real Snider was beyond the dreams
of any native except one who had such
highly desirable merchandise as Athira
to barter for.
The successive advances in prices
had not frightened purchasers, and viii
lage history records that the old gen.
tleman sold his beautiful daughter year
after year, but always repudiated his
agreement as she grew more hand
some. This did not make him over
whelmingly popular. And as the years
went by and each year saw a new
buyer who in turn was cheated of his
bargain, the village at last was full of
claimants who agreed on only two sub
jects; that Athira was glorious and
that her father was an old rascal. Be-
yond this they agreed on nothing, I'M
less it was a strong desire to kill each
other.
Later when the girl was Is years old,
all these bitter enemies got new
ground of agreement. For in that
year there appeared a nabob of Afridi
horse traders named Khel Malik. He
produced the herd of cows, the horse
and the coveted Snider rifle and he got
the girl, and also the enmity of all the
other claimants, one of whom was
Khel Malik's nephew, Mir Khan. He
had been knocked out by the demand
for the Snider rife and his heart was
bitter against his plutocratic uncle.
However, he did not say anything.
Afridis believe in economy of words.
They carry nice. four foot long knives,
with triangular blades and bone ham
dies that do most of their talking for
them. Khel Malik's nephew went
away and helfted his knife carefully.
He also went through the motions of
slicing some invisible person thorough
ly. Then he oiled his long hair, put
on his best turban can and STROBE to
the house where the wedding was to be.
Now of all the wedding guests the
beautiful Athira had seen none sc
handsome and OF so fine figure as
was Mir Khan when he stepped in with
his fine embroidered kaftan over his
shoulders, his elegant weapons stuck
negligently into a belt of the finest
leather of Turkestan. his nobly, up
curved green leather shoes and his
black beard. And she showed it. Khel
Malik straightway resolved that there
was nephew too many in Afridi land
and determined to borrow back the
Snider rife at the first opportunity
It would have been better for him
had he done it at once. But many
things hammered after the wedding