The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-08-18
A CUBAN ROMANCE.
A TRAGIC STORY TOLD BY WINE MERCHANT,
FORMERLY A CUBAN PATRIOT.


lowing story from the proprietor who had
been one OF Lopez's band In Cuba Gas q
young man l took an active part IN the Lo-
PEE conspiracy in 81, nor was 1 very old
man in '6s, when we almost succeeded in
tearing our beloved country from the grasp
of the overbe airing Peninsularians, as the
Spaniards are called by the Cubans. 1 was
more fortunate than the rest, for made my
escape when disaster fell upon our arms, and
L have succeeded in living in comfort in this
country. Still, even here, know that spies
OF the royal government are aware OF every
thing debut stay, must not make nv
story too long by talking about myself. When
the patriot Narciso Lopez raised the standard
OF revolt in 1851, some of his most devoted
adherents were women. Cuban ladies are
more patriotic than the men. Inspired bv
the songs of Gabriel de la Conception Val
DEE, our national poet they arm their hus-
bands, sons and brothers for the combat. and
bid them go forth and conquer. In all our
attempts at independence women have taken
actual part In the struggle, and In the battles
or '6S the corpses of women were frequently
found on the field disguised as men.
''The Sonora Inez Bestrano was the daugh-
ter of rich Creole planter In the eastern in
terror of the island. Above the average
height, Of perfect form, and with eyes of the
soft shade of green which Longfellow tells
us we sometimes see in evening skies, a con-
stitution equal to any amount of fatigue or
exertion, and with a complete mastery of
horsemanship, and, strange to say, of the
manual of arms, she was just the woman for
a modern Joan of Arc. Her love for her
country and her hatred for the Spaniards
was her religion. The slaves Of her fathers
plantation regarded her almost as a goddess
and kissed the ground on which she walked,
and as for the Guagiros, or native Cuban
yeOmenry peasants, there was not one In the
district who would not have laid down his
life for Inez Nor did she want for lovers
among the neighboring planters but she did
not show them any favor. One man, how
ever, had gained her heart, Pedro d'Aguas.
son of the Marquis de los Claras, a wealthy
nobleman residing in the city of Havana
Senior d'Aguas was thirty years of age, and
outwardly just the man to attract woman's
eye. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with
regular features and a soft, pleasant voice.
He rode his horse as though he were part Of
the animal, and dressed with tasteful ele-
gance. Men did not like him there was
something which had false ring W hen he
spoke, and it was often noticed how uneasiIy
his eyes shifted whenever you looked him
straight in the face. His brother Carlos was
still more unpopular, but the latter very sell
dom made his appearance at the BestranO
plantation. told you Pedro was the son of
a marquis. You must not confide the Cuban
nobility with any other aristocracy. A Gu
ban noble is a contemplate individual who
| is generally Of humble origin but has amass-
ed by severe toll and economy large amount
| of money. Finally, to oil his vanity, he pur-
chased title Of the Spanish government,
usually count or marquis, and struts about
like jay in peacock's feathers. So 1t was
with the Marquis de los Claras. He and his
sons always professed patriotism, although
| of course they had to keep their expression
secret But when visiting Inez Pedro and
his brother Carlos were loud In their denun-
Citations Of the iniquities of the Spaniard, and
! when Sonora IneZ proposed to raise COM
| pany Of men to join the revolutionary leader,
/ Lopez, Don Pedo was warm in his approval
1 of the scheme.
"Inez had no difficulty In finding men.
She picked out two hundred of the most
promising looking Guagiros, and, placing
| herself at their head, with Pedro as her lieu
/ tenant by her side, she one morning present
ed herself in the rebel camp and demanded
enlistment from Lopez. 1t was dashing
calvacade which met the eyes of the rebel
commander. Picture TO yourselves two hun
dred handsomely mounted men, attired in
beautifully embroidered shirts, with wide
cambria sashes around their waists, in which
a silver handled sword OF machete glittered
with the rays of the sun long rife slune
across the back of each man and the butt Of
a pistol peeping out OF their breasts. Not
such bad addition even to large army, es-
pecially when the colonel of the volunteer
regiment happened to be beautiful woman
as in this case. Lopez received the fair girl
patriot with tears in his eyes, and for the few
short weeks that eDsued prior to the utter
annihilation of the rebel army by the royal
army Inez shared in ali the hardships, IA
tigues and dangers of the campaign. Don
Pedro was employed on scout duty by Lopez
and was sometimes away for days together.
He brought in what seemed to be good infOr-
nation, but IL often struck us-I may as well
tell you 1 was an officer with Bopez-that il
was very wonderful he could ride so near the
royal lines and always escape without cap
ture. At last came the erowning disaster.
We were defeated and scattered in every di-
rection, each man for himself, and the unfOr-
tunate Lopez was captured near the falls OF
Rosario, taken to the capitol and garrOted.
His last words were "I die for Cuba" Sonora
Inez, Don Pedro, myself and about dozen
others escaped in the same direction, and
were very fortunate in eluding pursuit Pc
dro appeared to be very devoted to Inez and
she loved him with her whole soul, almost as
much as she loved her beloved Cuba, but not
| quite, as the sequel will show. One evening
we were resting on the spur of mountain,
and looking around for a convenient place to
camp out for the night. Inez and Pedro had
dismounted, and were resting side by side on
the banks of little spring. he had one arm
around her waist aud was talking to her
earnestly. She was listening to him with
pleasure. for could not help seeing the hap
pv blushes which chased each other over her
sweet face. Conscious that I was watching
them 1 turned on my heel to allow them more
priyacv, when noticed a leather pOcketbook
living at my feet Ipicked it up 1t was full
of papers, and the envelope Of one OF the let
ters denoted it belonged to Don Pedro.
was about to return It to him when something
said: Examine it first" 1t was mean
act TO do. but suspected the man, and here
was a chance of proving or disprOving my
suspicious. So 1 retired behind the trunk OF
/ a large tree and began to investigate my ma.