The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-03-01

who had pledged them with the
money-lender week or two before.
II was a terrible position for the
unfortunate youth. With such con-
vincing evidence OF his guilt before
their eyes, how was It possible for his
| friends to believe him innocent Of the
| crime? It Is true he had missed his
knife some days before, but, unfOr-
! tunately, had made no mention Of the
fact; and TO do 50 now, he felt, was
| useless. Still his was not "A nature
TO be easily cast down, and looking at
the sea OF faces pressing round him,
with sorrow and sympathy depicted
on them all, he was encouraged to
make an effort.
"My friends" he began, I'm a voice
trembling with emotion, Il am not
guilty Of this crime. why should
slay the poor old man, who has never
done me harm? II Is true the knife
that killed him belongs to me; IL is
useless TO deny the fact, for It is well
known to all Of you. But how It
came here is more than can say. It
was stolen from me some days ago,
and the man who stole It is the mur-
derer. The anklets ! know nothing
Of. | will not say more, for how Is it
possible for me TO prove my innocence
to you? But you all know and re-
spect our ancient Caro- oath, and |
will repeat It in your presence.
Then, i'm deep, solemn tones, he re-
peated the well-knOwn words: May
be killed by wild elephant if what
| have said is false,"
As Pembu concluded this simple,
manly speech a murmur Of applause
arose from the assembled multitude,
and more than one voice was raised
on his behalf.
In spite Of the terrible evidence
against him, there was now scarcely
a man present who believed him
guilty of the crime. more especially
amongst the elders, the men on whose
verdict his liberty. perhaps his life,
depended. with all the traditions Of
their race still strong within them,
these Garos OF the older school dared
an oath, and were about to pro-
nounce in favor of the youth when,
at this critical moment, there was a
sudden movement in the crowd. and
a man, forcing his way through,
called out that he had some inn
portant evidence to give.
He said that on the previous night,
as he was passing the old mans hut,
he had seen Pembu come quickly ont
Of it carrying something in his hand
"a knife. it looked like. Finding
himself discovered, he had run into
the jungle. Concluding his state
ment, the man sWore TO it on the
customary oath.
In a moment the whole attitude OF
the people changed as if by magic.
Here was conclusive evidence of
Pcmbu's guilt, aggravated a hundred
fold in their eyes by his sworn denial
of the crime. Some suggested that
he should be stoned to death at once;
others, that he be bound and cast
into the jungle to be dealt with by
the beast whose vengeance he had SO
audaciously invoked. For a time it
seemed as ii the last suggestion
would be carried out at once; indeed,
the headman and his colleagues
found some difficulty in preventing it.
However, the influence of the former
finally prevailed, and after promising
the .nfuriated crowd that justice
would be done he gave orders for
Pembu TO be arrested.
The next morning, with his arms
tightly bound behind him, and cs-
Corted by a gang of his fellow viii
layers, with the cNultaut Kishto at
their head, the unhappy Pembu was
sent into Tura, the headquarters Of
che district, TO stand his trial for the
murder.
The journey was a long and peril
Gus one, through dense jungle infest-
ed with wild elephants and danger
GUS beasts of every kind. For these
children OF nature, however, as wild
and savage as the beasts themselves,
these animals had no terrors. Fa-
miliarity had bred, III not contempt,
at least indifference, and they gave
no thought To the dangers that sur
rounded them. Yet there was one
amongst them visibly less callous
! than the rest. This man, when n
herd of elephants had once crossed
the path, had Quailed and sought the
shelter of a tree. His comrades, no.
ticing this, jeered at him, but little
/ they guessed the real cause of his
alarm. The prisoner had noticed il
too, and recognized in the skulking
wretch the man who had sworn false
/ ly ON the sacred oath; and ray of
light shot through Pembu's clouded
| brain as he remembered that this
was the friend of Kishto, whom he
had so severely chastised, and who
had sworn 10 be avenged!
All that lad seemed a mystery was
made clear TO him now. The stolen
knife and the anklets concealed