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Waikato Independent, Volume V, Issue 320, 5 January 1907, Page 3

As Told at Martin’s oe By Beatriz Bcllido De Luna. (Copyright, 1901, by Author* Syndic***.) 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 ibore pleasant place to be than in the sultry atmosphere outside. “That girl,” said Brown, slowly, eyeing the dancer through curling clouds of smoke, as she snapped her castanets, and twisted her lithe figure in the rhythmic measures of a Spanish air, “reminds me of a woman I knew in Cuba.” “Is it a story, Brown?” questioned Lester. “Well, rather,” our friend replied, emphatically. “Like to hear it?” We assented eagerly, Brown’s stories were usually worth listening to. “As I said before,” he began, “it was in Cuba. I was there for the paper, just before the Spanish-American war broke out, and I saw the conflict 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 Havana, and it was there that I knew Antonina. “She had come from Paris and was dancing at the Tacon theater. The oity was mad over her, after the fashion of the Latin race, and, in fact, she 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 since. She had a small wicked face, was slender almost to thinness, and not very tall. But to see her dance! lam sure no one has equaled 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 sopie said she had a strain of French—some said Arabian, and some even hinted at the African, but whatever her nationality, her magnetism was marvelous. “The gallants flew wildly at her feet. She was looked upon with horror 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. He seemed to be more favored than the others, but was insanely jealous, in fact bereft of all reason. Political matters were very mucfe strained—feeling between Spaniards and the Cubans had reached its highest 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 pleasure loving city, although honeycombed by plots and intrigues, forgot, for the moment, all save the moment’s enjoyment. “The man most dreaded by the Spanish official's was one Juan Sanchez, an insurgent leader. He was the son of a wealthy planter who had figured prominently in a former outbreak, and had been exiled to Ceuta, Spain’s penal colony in Africa. The. son, growing to manhood and finding himself an outcast, embraced the rebel cause and had made himself troublesome. He had gathered his recruits from neighboring provinces, and lived in •the mountains, evading every effort of the government to capture him. I do not know how it came about, but Ruiz evolved the idea of affecting his capture through Antonina. The general possessed a diamond of enormous value, a family jewel, and this he promised to the woman if she would lure the outlaw to her house. Antonina had long coveted the stone, and had tried every one of her wiles to obtain it, so 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 undey 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 ft or, and one evening the place was surrounded and Sanchez taken prisoner, He was, of course, 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 she was seen by the