"Leon was my only brother--I have told you before how we once loved each other, and even described how he was drawn to join the brave Cubans under Gomez when they rebelled against the mother country. "In one of the first fights that occurred Leon was taken prisoner, and carried to Havana where he was secretly confined in Morro Castle. "Suddenly we heard that he had been taken out under the castle walls with seven other wretched patriots and shot to death. "That was about the time I met you, senor, and my aching heart found solace in your devoted love. Then came the period of our happiness and the shock of your desertion. "Days, months, yes years have since passed. Then, as though the dark clouds would roll away together, I again saw your blessed face, and at the same time heard a wonderful story that Leon was alive--that he had been saved by the daughter of the officer in command of Morro Castle, who had fallen in love with his handsome face." "That is not so wonderful, senorita, since you tell me he resembles _you_." "Ah! flatterer; but you shall hear all, though the time is not appropriate. Strange things happen in Havana--in all Spanish speaking countries--romance has a home there, and plays a part you colder Anglo-Saxons hardly understand." "You forget I have lived there myself--that I speak Spanish, and by direct association discovered the good qualities of these people who are almost enigmas to the common run of Americans. I believe in giving the devil his due. Yes, you cannot surprise me very much. I too have seen many remarkable dramas played under the crimson and gold banner of Spain." "This daughter of the governor saved Leon. She bribed the prison doctor who pronounced my brother dead while in reality he only lay in a stupor caused by a subtle drug. "He was carried from the prison in a coffin and buried just as the sun went down. "Then darkness came as the grave diggers turned back to the fort. "Hardly were they out of sight than from a chaparral where she had remained hidden sprang the governor's daughter, may the saints protect her as an angel of mercy. "At her side was a faithful negro, and while the fire-flies spangled the darkness around, this man flung back the newly set earth. "When Leon had been snatched from the rude pine box intended for his coffin this was again buried in the ground. "They carried the boy to the negro's cabin and there he was tenderly nursed through a long and weary sickness. "There he lay while I mourned as only a loving, stricken sister could; for we believed the published account of his death before the guns of the avenging Spanish executioners. "It was six months before he was well, and during that time he had become so mixed up in the great game of independence that he dared not let me know even of his existence--besides, he feared lest a breath of suspicion should be cast upon the girl who had risked all this for his sake, and whom he loved with heart and soul.