The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-16

The night was warm, and the drinks
refreshing to our dusty mouths. Wait
ers passed noiselessly to and fro, bear
ing 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 up
on. Altogether, Martins was a much
more pleasant place to be than in the
sultry atmosphere outside.
THAT girl" said Brown, slowly, eye
ing the dancer through curling clouds
of smoke. as she snapped her casta-
nets, and twisted her 1.-THE figure in
the rhythmic measures of a Spanish
air, reminds me of a woman 1 knew
in Cuba"
us it a story. Brown" questioned
Lester.
We'll. rather" our friend replied,
emphatically. Like to hear it?"
We assented eagerly, for Browns
stories were usually worth listening to.
LAS I said before" he began. lit was
in Cuba. 1 was there for the paper.
just before the Spanish American war
broke out, and l saw the conflict
through. Most of the time, after hos
tilities were declared, l was all over
the island, wherever the fighting was,
but at first l was quartered at Ha-
vana, and it was there that / knew
Antonina.
She had come from Paris and was
dancing at the Tacon Theater. The
city was mad over her, after the fash
ion of the Latin race, and, in fact, she
made even my phlegmatic Anglo
Saxon blood run quicker than was it's
wont. She was hardly beautiful though
] 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! I
am sure no one has equaled her. Every
motion was daring, poetical, and pos
sessed the very essence of grace. She
was absolutely mistress of her art, and
of her audiences.
Il don't know what she was, but
mostly Spanish blood, although some
said she had a strain of French
said Arabian. and some even limited at
the African, but whatever her nation
atty. her magnetism was marvellous.
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 tantalzed her
lovers laughed at them, Tilted 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 much
strained-feeling between Spaniards
and the Cubans had reached it's high
est pitch. Not a day passed without
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 honey
combed by plots and intrigues, forgot,
for the moment, all save the moments
enjoyment.
The man most dreaded by the Span
ish officials was one Juan Sanchez, an
fnsurgent leader He was the son-of a
wealthy planter who had figured prom
inently in a former outbreak, and
had been exiled to Centa, Spain's penal
colony in Africa. The son, growing to
manhood and finding himself an out
cast. embraced the rebel cause and
had made himself troublesome. He
had gathered his recruits from the
neighboring provinces, and lived in the
mountains, evading every effort of the
government to capture him.
81 do not know how it came about,
but Ruez evolved the idea of affecting
his caputre through Antonina. The
general possessed a diamond of enor-
nous 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.
1T 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 An
tonina dance; was introduced to her
after the performance, and, like all the
others, fell under her spell. To a man
of his character no halfway 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 sur
rounded 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 rebels
capture got about, and she was cheer
ed whenever she was seen by the 10y
alists. Ruiz was more infatuated than