THE CONFESSION 



but here he faltered and seemed unable to proceed. Look- 

 ing helplessly around the court, his eye fell on the prisoner 

 gazing at him accusingly ; in an instant the expression 

 of his face changed, and, apparently obeying a sudden 

 impulse, he threw himself at the magistrate's feet and 

 begged to be forgiven. Then rising to his knees he placed 

 his hands together, and in this humble posture related the 

 true story of the crime. 



He told how he and his friend had planned the murder, 

 and how the latter had stabbed the old man while he slept, 

 with Pembu's knife, which they had previously secured. 

 They had concealed it and the anklets in the roof of Pembu's 

 hut, and then falsely accused him of the murder. They 

 would have sworn away his life but for the vengeance of 

 the gods, which had so promptly overtaken his accomplice. 

 Kishto then went on to describe the terrible scene he had 

 witnessed in the forest, and how the recollection of it had 

 haunted him, and ultimately forced him to confess the 

 share he had taken in the crime. Trembling, he paused 

 awhile ; then, as if impelled by some feeling he was power- 

 less to resist, he repeated the ancient oath he had just so 

 scornfully rejected. 



Pembu and his sweetheart were duly wedded, while the 

 villainous Kishto was hanged for the murder of the old 

 money-lender. And in that little village amid the forest- 

 clad hills the Garo's oath is held more sacred than ever. 



59 



