As Told at Martin's

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1985, 23 April 1906, Page 2

As Told at Martin's

j! By Bcatriz Bellido De Luna. j \

ft—a—l——— iiiii-hhiimii ■————■— I THE night was warm, and the drinks refreshing to our dusty mouths. Waiters passed noiselessly to and fro, bearing trays laden with tall glasses, the electric fans overhead buzzed with a giddy whirr, and there was a dancer on the stage who was good to look upon. Altogether, Martin's was a much more pleasant place to be than in the sultry atmosphere i outside. i "That girl," said Brown, slowly, eyeing the dancer through curling clouds of smoke, as she snapped her cas- ! fcanets, and twisted her lithe figure in | the rhythmic measures of a Spanish j air, "reminds me of a woman I knew in Cuba." ■ "Is it a story, Drown?" questioned | Lester. I "Well, rather," our friend replied, j emphatically. "Like to hear it?" We assented eagerly, for Brown's j stories were usually worth listening I to. "As I said before," he began, "it was in Cuba. I was there for the paper, just before the Spanish-American war I broke out, and I saw the conflict j through. Most of the time, after hostilities were declared, I was all over ' the island, wherever the fighting was, but at first I was quartered at Ha- ■ vana, and it was there that I knew Antonina. "She had come from Faris and was ! dancing at the Tacon theater. Tb« I city was mad over her, after the fash- | ion of the Latin race, and. in fact, she j made, even my phlegmatic AngloSaxon blood run quicker than was its wont. She was hardly beautiful, : though I have never seen such eyes before, or 6ince. She had a small wicked , face, was slender almost to thinness, j and not very tall. But to see her dance! I am sure no one has equaled i her. Every motion was daring, poetical, and possessed the very essence of grace. She was absolutely mistress of her art, and of her audiences*. "I don't know what she was, but mostly Spanish blood, although some said she bad a strain of French—some | said Arabian, and soma even hinted at the African, but whatever her nation- . ality, her magnetism was marvelous. "The gallants flew wildly at her feet. She was looked upon with horI ror by the church, although it was ' said —but never mind that. She tantalized her lovers, laughed at them, jilted them, yet chained them to her. Among her most constant admirers : was Gen. Ruiz, of the Spanish army. ji He seemed to be more favored than | the others, but was insanely jealous, ji in fact bereft of all reason. J "Political matters were very much I strained —feeling between Spaniards :! and the Cubans had reached its high- | est pitch. Not a day passed without | a duel, or a quarrel, or an arrest. Yet in spite of this, Antonina danced every night to a crowded house, and the J pleasure loving city, although honeyj combed by plots and intrigues, forj got, for the moment, all save the moj tnent's enjoyment. j "The man most dreaded by the Spanj ish official* was one Juan Sanchez, an j insurgent leader. He was the son of j a. wealthy planter who had figured ! prominently in a former outbreak, i ind had been exiled to Ceuta, Spain's I penal colony in Africa. Theson, grow- ! Lng to manhood and finding himself an outcast, embraced the rebel cause ,' and had made himself troublesome. Se had gathered hi* recruits from I neighboring provinces, and lived in I the mountains, evading every effort i af the government to capture him. "I do not know how it came about, jut Ruiz evolved the idea of affecting his capture through Antonina. The g-eneral reassessed a diamond of enor- ; tnous value, a family jewel, and this j he promised to the woman if she would lure the outlaw to her house. Antonina had long coveted the stone, and bad tried every one of her wiles to obtain it, eo it can be understood that she readily promised to attempt the task. "It might be thought that this was a most difficult undertaking, but Ruiz had his spies everywhere, and Antonina her -willing slaves. One night, when Sanchez was in the city on a secret mission, he was taken to the theater, by one of his own friends, to see Antonina dance; was introduced to her after the performance, and like, all the others, fell under her spell. To a man of his character no | half way method was possible. She | dismissed the other of her admirers, and rumor soon spread that Sanchez ' rode in every night and openly visited her at her house. "This was what Ruiz was waiting for, and one evening the place was I surrounded and Sanchez taken prisoner. He wu, of oourse, sentenced to be shot. "Antonina, apparently, thought no more of the matter. She appeared at the theater on the following evening, and had never been more charming. The story of her share in the rebel's capture got about, and she was cheered whenever *he was seen by the loyalist*. Ruiz wm more infatuated

tiuvn ever, and wa* woroftitiiaialielplM* | in her hands. ) “The day that Sanchez was to be ex- ! ecuted Antonina demanded, of Euiz j that he should gain permission for j her to see her former lover alone. It j was not known what excuse she gave j for this seemingly strange request, i but, at any rate, it was granted her. What took place at the interview wa-a never disclosed. Immediately after it was over Sanchez was marched into the courtyard, placed with his face to j the wall and shot todeath. Hamethia j fate with gallant indifference. | “Antonina watched him die, from ' one of the windows, without a sign of emotion, save a narrowing of the eye- ! lids andi a slight compression of the j lips. She danced that night, but can- j celed her engagement for the follow- j ing week, saying she wasgoiug to leave ; the city for a rest. “A few days later I happened to be 1 in one of the shabbiest parts of town, I and there met a woman whose re- i semblance to the dancer was so strik- j ing that I turned and looked after her I as she passed me. She went into a J miserable looking hovel and, as I loitered near, hoping to solve the mystery, she came out again, end walked swiftly by me. This time I was conrincedithat it was Antonina. Much puzzled at her appearance in such a place, I followed) her, but soon she disappeared down a narrow side street, and being unfamiliar with that part of the town, 1 lost track of her. “Next day I was called away from the city, and when I returned I found I the social world in a state of expeo tation over a grand reception to be given by Gen. Ruiz in honor of some of the American officers. The chief attraction was the announcement i that Antonina had been engaged to dance for the entertainment of the guests. I determined to accept my iuvital:on, os the woman possessed a great attraction for me. I was present at the reception. “’The salas were crowded with a brilliant assembly. Scores of beautiful women, and the handsome Spanish officers in their showy uniforms, mingled with the more sober dress of our country, gave a most picturi esque effect to the scene. It was | nearly midnight when the dancer arrived. She had driven directly from I the theater, and was attired in a most magnificent costume, while on her breast glittered the Ruiz ciamond. As she came into the ballroom, she was greeted with ora vox and was showered with flowers. She paused a moment on the threshold, and responded with a faint, half mocking smile. Then slowly raising her arms, she stepped forward. InI stantly the orchestra struck up with j the passionate music of El Sol, and j the guests drew away from the cen- , ter of the room, leaving her standing j in a blaze of color and jewels—alone j cn the polished floor, j "I will not attempt to describe the j dance. We watched her with deep j drawn breaths, and dizzy bruins, as i she whirled herself from the lazy j languor of the beginning to the mad ; abandon at the end. Ruiz, unable to contain bis emotions, caught up a 1 flower that had dropped from her hair, and, unmindful of observers, | hissed it. She saw the action, and ' with a sidelong glance tore the scarj let scarf from her waist, and, still ) dancing, threw it over his neck. ; Something gleamed in her hand, and I some instinct warned me of mischief. I I stepped to Ruiz’ side. Antonina stretched out her hand, and held me back, and if ever I saw the devil look out from a woman’s eyes, I saw it | shining then between her half closed I lids. f “ ‘Adioa, companeros,’ she said In | clear, ringing tone« f T go to wait ! tor you in hell.’ 1 “With a swift motion she buried the j dagger, which hod been concealed in j her hand, in her heart, and as the i last strains of the music died away i she fell to the floor, the wicked smile j frozen on her mouth. “Three weeks later, Gen. Ruiz and every one of his subordinate officers died of the most maliginant kind of smallpox. Antonina had searched until she had found a case, as we afterward discovered —had exposed Sanchez’ sword belt to the infection, and thus carried the infection to Ruiz, gaining a vengeance which few brains could hare evolved. She had loved the man whose life she had sold for a jewel.” “Why did she take her life?” quea- [ tioned Lester. “That," answered Brown, "was a I phase of her character which I found hard to understand, though I ! believe that she preferred death to I the loss of her charms, and knew I that she surely must have had the | dread disease herself. To me vhe i most wonderful thing about her was | that she could love so intensely, and I never by word or sign betray herself, even when she saw him die, and knew that she was responsible for | his death. That is something I hare ■ never seen in any other woman, nnd ; gave evidence of a will that could j have moved empires, had it not spent i all its energy on one man.” ... » " ' ' "*