MODERN ENOCH ARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 95, 22 April 1922, Page 19

MODERN ENOCH ARDEN.

A TRIPLE TRAGEDY. A story which makes the home-coming or Enoch Arden seem like a provincial escapade is reported from the village of Tlka, Jugoslavia.

A resident of the village who went to America fifteen years ago to seek his fortune and had not been heard from since by his wife and children, appeared at the home of a friend. The man had saved several thousand dollars and eagerly anticipated surprising his family.

Leaving his baggage at the home of his friend, he presented himself at the house of his mother-in-law, where the family resided, and asked for a night's lodging. No one recognised him and he appeared to enjoy the situation hugely. Still aiding his identity, he gave presents to the children: and proudly showed them the money he carried.

That night, after the household had retired, the mother-in-law found the temptation presented by the visitor's money too great. Awakening her daughter, she suggested that In -view of their dire, poverty they should kill the man. The daughter, thinking of ihe need of the children, agreed, and together they cut the lodger's throat.

The next morning a friend of the slain man appeared with the baggage and told the story. The two women, overcome with horror at the crime, drowned themselves In a well.