Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-08-02

| beat he would stop and stand, tw1rl1ng
his mustache and trying to look very
! innocent and unconcerned. Then he
| would slowly turn and walk back
again. This continued for ten nights.
On. it did make me so angry with the
young man to see him spending hours
each evening in marching up and down
before that house, and the young lady
| showing no sign all that time that she
had noticed his existence. At last, on
the eleventh night, they spoke. How
it came about l don't know, but / saw
her stand up at the window, leaning
on the bars and talking to him. Soon
her mother came and took her place
at the windiw, and the young lady
went away and sat down. The mother
and the young man conversed for
| twenty minutes, and then he lifted his
hat and smilingly departed. The next
night he appeared again and found the
house all closed up in front. The young
lady's aunt was very sick, and they
close up the house in case of sickness
in Cuba. The young man marched up
and down and up and down, looking at
the closed blinds, He evidently
thought that they meant a rejection
of his suit, for he seemed very sad in
deed. The next night he came again
and found the house still shut up. He
waited, but got no sign of hope, and
| so he shook his head several times
slowly and walked away, looking back
every now and then. l never set eyes
on him again. A week later the young
lady's aunt had recovered from her
sickness and the house was once more
thrown open. Once more the young
lady sat behind the lace curtains,
peeping out of the parlor window.
| She was dressed in her finest attire
and she waited long and anXiOusly for
her cavalier to come, but he did not
appear. Night after night she patient
ly waited. sitting in her best dress,
looking out through the bars, but he
never came. She would rise to her
feet and look out through the bars of
her cage, for the girl is Gagged in
Havana. Up the street and down the
street she would look, but he never
came. She had seen him for the last
| time.
SenOr-Oh, those reports in the
American papers about brigandage are
very much exaggerated. Cuba is
heavily wooded and contains only
1000, 900 people, and there are robbers
there, the same as in this country.
The brigands are very nice gentlemen;
almost all of them are ex-sOldiers from
the rebel army which tried to drive
the Spaniards out of Cuba. They do
no harm, but treat their prisoners well.
OF course if prisoner is ugly and tries
to resist and fight them he gets in
trouble. Well, they kill him. But they do
not interfere with poor men and they
don't ask any man for money unless
they know he has got it. They not
only know that their prisoner has
money, but they also know much he
has got and where it is banked. They
have their secretaries all over the
| island. The first time / came in con-
tact with the brigands of Cuba was in
the year 1881, in the district of Vuelta
Arriba, in the Province of Santa Clara.
l was looking over the plantations
there, buying the newly-harvested leaf
tobacco. AS l was riding along quiet
road through wood one day four men
came out from among the trees and
called on me to halt. They were
good Hooking. well-dressed, sun-burned
fellows, of military appearance. They
informed me that as / was stranger
would have to put up money in order
to secure me in peace while transact
ing my business. l looked them over
and seeing that they were intelligent
men 1 began to talk to them. ''See
here" l said, II am buyer, and if
you rob the buyers they will come to
your province no more. The farmers
will not be able to sell their crops if
the buyers do not come here, and if
the farmers don't sell their crops and
the buyers don't come you will be in q
nice box. There will be no one for
you to rob-" Well, they saw what
said was true, and instead of robbing
in the woods, where they feasted
me and opened wine. Oh, they live
in grand style. Their food is luxu-
rious, the finest beef and pork and NUT
ton and chickens and all other kinds
of fowls and all kinds of shell fish and
canned goods and preserves and the
finest wines and cigars. Their arms
are very superior and costly and their
tents are fine and well fin ished. They
have plenty of horses, and excellent
horses they are. They have no houses
or permanent places of residence.
but live all the time in tents and on
horseback. After they had toasted me
and we had enjoyed some of the
finest wine 1 ever encountered, l was
led to a very comfortable couch of
skins. In the morning l was break
tasted and sent away in peace. Since
then / have been great deal among
the brigands and have spent many and