, 1890-02-27

wooden ehcds on salt fish, potatoes and
coiiec, win u measure OF red wine pro-
yided by the lama. duplicating this
meal as dinner at 4 In the after-
noon. They cat like animals, and the
moment their food Is disposed Of the
tnkle of the guitar Is heard, and yOu or
any kindly disposed passer may dance
with them, US | did, until the thirty
minutes allowed them for food and re-
frusco havc expired. ON these oc.
casions, every ono dances, girls of Is
ana women OF 80, aud tho scenes along
Manznnaros AFRO very picturesque aud
Interesting. But when l tell you that
one oi these iron-franicd wenchos must
wash and dry ready for the 'starching," T"
which is done by tile criadas In the city,
pieces OF linen equaling the cleansing OF
seventy sheets, In order to earn 25 cents
por day, tho poetical sense In IL all Is
with she Interested on-lookcr, rather
Than with the drudglng lavanderas OF
the Manzanarcs. 7rthilt
TUE GIpsigs.
To the southwest of tho old city, be.
tween the fine Toledo bridge and the
hugo but unartlstic Toledo cato, and
near the bank of the river Is woebo-
gone quarter known as "Barrio de las
iniurias y tnmbronoras Here found
my old friends, the gpsios, 10 tho mum
Der of about 1000. They live In
crumbling stone huts. rude wooden
sheds, cnriously patched and mended,
Ike many OF tho squatters In their pic
turcsquc cabins upon the gray rocks of
Harlem heights. In New York, and In
tents of coarse linen cloth set upon
board bases, something as we used to
n,ise our "weclgc' and "wali' tents
when In winter quarters, while some
OF us were enjoying n vacation In tho
South from 1851 to 1885. There is also
one old ruin Of house, for
merry an almacen or warehouse
whcrc some thirty or forty families hord
like rats. But the Icy winds sweeping
down tho valley Of the Manzanares had
left them In such a state of torpor as
made n visit 10 them devoid OF special
Interest. They hold weekly fairs hero
Tor the saio Of horses, and wild and pic
turesque throngs of their women In fair
weather dance and sing In the GALES and
upon tho plnzas of the city, whilo the
hhivinas or fortune tcllefs stonlthily fol-
low the working women and ohulas. and
penetrate TO the moradas Of the nobility
themselves, upon whom they practice
their black nrts Of divination. My visit
to these tawny folk would have becn
deeply disappointing had not possessed
American gipsies. This enabled mo to
secure Information regarding tho present
whereabouts Of the most powerful and
respectable band oi rom rajahs, or ''road
lords," that Is. travelling girsies, In
Spain, which, IL fortunate in finding,
shall speak Of at length in my next
letter.
THE mad POET oF srAis.
From the homes of these miserable
outcnsts wandered to the Campo Santo
or public cemetery Of Madrid. To me
there has always been n strange fascina-
ton about the mourninl. end of the
greatest. and the most diabollc, poet
Spain ever produced. That ono was
Espronceda, the mad pont oi Spain.
could not lind his own grave, but the
neglected. tumba of his mother was
pointed out--the place where the poet 5
desperate agony dethroncd his reason.
His life and death were equally horri-
bic. He sprang from soclnl driftwood.
His mother was brilliant lascivln; his
father a titled roue; his own love affairs
horribly dramatic: his daughter the
most beautiful and dangerous woman
madman. The baleful influence of his
daughter was such that royalty in Spain
nearly received its dealhbiow, and
every hope ccntering i'm the present
royal succession was all but destroyed
Adelaide, the mad poets dlyinoly
beautiful daughter, was tho favorite
inamvrata of Alfonso. Indeed the two
were desperately In love- Queen Chris
tiana. the present queen regent bore all
his ordinary affairs patiently enough,
but she knew of the radiant beauty and
intellectually Of Adelaide. and II crazeG
her with jealousy Ortering a close
carrosR she was driven to the little nest
OF quinta Alfonso had provided for his
love IN the arlstooratc suburb OF Cham
berry, at an hour when she knew the
king would be with her. Hastily aiight-
ing, she attempted to enter but was
met by the Duke Sesto, whose cminonce
had been attained as proeurador
rather than "A statesman.
''Permit Inc to enterIn tremblingiy de-
manded the queen.
ut As Impossible. beg you to return
to the palace, replied Sesto.
MAKE way for the queen--the queen
will pass Indignantly commanded tho
niece Of Francis Joseph, emperor OF the
Austrias.
"Even the queen can not passw i'm
perturably and dogsedly answered the
duke.
With q cry Of rage Christina sp-ans
to the carossa, snatched from IL heavy
purse of gold, flung IL nlll ia Scsto's
face, which sent hin crashing through
n window OF the villa, and, shricl,ing,
.Dogl il your master the king pays
YOU one price for your hellish occupa-
lion the queen will always double il 70
defeat hin!" fiew into Tho quinta like
a tigrcss, and discovered the King and
Adelaide In each others arms.
II Is said Alfonso did not recognize
the identity OF the hall-craacd intruder.
Al all events, springiug 10 his feet, he
struck the queen to the floor with his
heavy walking-st and then He'd
the calm Sesio bore The unfortu-
nate woman To tile carrosa and saw Dcr
safely In the hands oI hex maids at the
royal palace. Two days later the queen
was with her uncle ut the Austrian
court, determined on eternal separation
from Alfonso while the Spanish royal
household aud the high dignltarios of
spain trenlbled for tho result. The
AFFAIR even penetrated the vatican itself,
and for time WAS q source OF grave dis
quiet TO ali the courts in Europe. But
ia little time Alfonso was prevailed
upon to present himself at Vienna, pen-
itent and promising. anu the polite
Austrian emperor succeeded in sending
Christina ana Alfonso back 20 Madrid
together Thus the queens uuoles
wisdom made 1t possible for all Spain to
rejoice n, the birth Of the late king
son, the puny, oyor-aihng
King Alfonso NIII., to succeed him
upon the Spanish throne.
TRAGIC DEATH.
But no man ever lived with greater
genius than Espronceda. lie starved
and sung, and Spain crowned him with
riches and honor. But these to him
were but Instruments for the most
bldoous emphasis Of bis own deadly
hatred Of all mankind. Siung TO mad