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Show C'vricht 1937 Ux-W'a Inc. ' Chapter One v The bells wore all ringing. Beau- tjjUi senuritns were k-aning over ' balcony mils. Tho great cannon at'op the tower was booming. J It was tho day of days in Madrid. v jjjj, nnd intense excitement had prfCiHlid that March morning in jn-'S. Nfver had the crowning of a nWking been the signal for great-er great-er jubilation. Ferdinand the Seventh ' Wis a friend of the people, and was to bring Pp" to greater glory than ever before. He was to rescue the land from the menacing shadow ' of Napoleon, across tho Pyrenees, mid to end the late vicious cycle of " political corruption. - Riding at the head of a festive martial procession, his dress uni-; uni-; form brilliant in scarlet and gold braid, the new monarch bowed to the plaudits of the throngs. His , horse stepped daintily, from one 1 side of the street to the other, to :- avoid treading on outstretched arms and feet. Meantime Perdi- rand's sharp Bourbon eyes took in the smiling maidens who strewed "iis way with freshly plucked bouquets. bou-quets. He was only twenty-four, and t!iat interested him more, perhaps, than anything else. : I The dancing and merrymaking continued, in unceasing volume, . long after the king had retired to 'the private domain of the palace. ::--There were maskers, improvised floats, and the emptying of barrel after barrel of wine. As dusk crept over the joy-laden city, torchlight .processions were organized. : . Every restaurant in the city was brimming with laughter, music and toasts to Ferdinand. In one cafe. - especially, was the celebration at its height. Here, in a low-ceilinged room, with great tables on which were piled high food and bottles of "wine, danced Nina Azara, known throughout the country as "The Don Diego jumped ip, unable to restrain re-strain his enthusiasm. He quickly lifted Nina onto oho of the big tables, himself standing on the long bench beside her. Nina was delighted delight-ed at tho manner in which Don Diego was making himself conspicuous. con-spicuous. Their heads were almost on a level above the rest of the crowd. And now, to put a crowning touch to the impression she wanted to convey to Ktienne, Nina to:.:: Don Diego's face in her hands. Deliberately, De-liberately, she gave him a passionate passion-ate kiss, full on the lips. The crowd cheered and laughed with delight. Ktienno was by now livid with rage. Impetuously, ha started to make his way toward Nina, but the waiter stopped him, thrusting his bill under his nose. Etienne furiously tore it to bits. While Nina, laughing, lightly jumped down from the table and ran from the room, Don Diego reached over and took a guitar from the hands of one of the musicians. mu-sicians. Full of joy, he started to sinp a Spanish love song. Nina paused for a moment, glancing glanc-ing back toward the young Spaniard. Spani-ard. Etienne in the meantime walked walk-ed quickly over to another table where sat two French ofllcers. Ho whispered to them, and the three stood up and walked out together. Having finished his song, Don Diego, preceded by an obsequious waiter, proceeded toward the doorway door-way leading toward the corridor. Silently the waiter indicated the dressing room beyond. Within, Lola motioned Nina to the window. "Se-norita," "Se-norita," she whispered, "come here and look." From where they stood they could see Etienne, with his comrades, on the street just outside the cafe. "He's waiting," Lola said. Nina thought for a moment. Then: "Pull the curtains," she ordered. or-dered. "Now go and get that Spanish Span-ish boy." "But senorka," Lola protested. v vV- - X . -" . " t - i . . j - - oV , . 1 . : -v - ; :t . ----- tf , r , s- '.l Nina took DonDiegos ff V , i - fi, face in her hands. f , " v 4" " . " -1 I "Get him," Nina repeated nrmly. "But he's so young." 1 "I can't help it. I've got to get rid of that Frenchman." Just then there was a knock at the door. I.ola opened the door to a smiling and happy Don Diego. "May I speak to the senorita?" he asked with a charming bow. "Come in senor. Come in," Nina called cordially. "We were just talking talk-ing about you.'; Don Diego's eyes were devouring Nina's beauty. "May I present myself? Don Diego Manrique de Lara. Of course, I realize that it's a little late for introductions in-troductions after all we've gone through together." Nina was watching him closely. "And where do you come from scnor? I haven't seen you in Madrid Ma-drid before." ""I've been wasting the whole of my life up till now ... in Valencia." "He's from Valencia," Nina said to Lola, meaningly. Then, turning back to Don Diego, she said: ''You have a family there?" "No senorita." "No wife, no father or mother?" "No," Don Diego said with a smile. "No one to care whether I live or die." "Perhaps it's just as well," said Nina. "Would you like a glass of .vine, senor?" "Er I was hoping you would come with me . . . and have some supper," Don Diego replied. ' Absent-mindedly, knowing they would never get that far, Nina said, "Supper? . . . Why, yes . . . yes ... I'd be delighted." Don Diego watched her, entranced. entranc-ed. "This is like a dream!" he exclaimed. ex-claimed. "I can't yet believe that I am really here. That I am talking to you. That in a minute I shall be walking out there with you on my arm." For a monT"it-Nina regretted her ruthlcssness. lofly, she attempted to dissuade hi:n from staying there. Eut the Spaniard was adamant. He was smiling when she took his arm. As- they came into the street, Ktienne, in a fury, started to draw his sword. But his comrades restrained re-strained him. Instead, one of them approached Diego and bowed stiffly. stiff-ly. Don Diego appeared a bit bewildered be-wildered by this procedure. "Monsieur le Capitaine feels that he has been grossly insulted," the French olficer stated. "Did he say what would satisfy him?" Diego demanded agreeably. ' The Frenchman was not amused. "The usual place, the usual weapons, weap-ons, at dawn." "Dawn?" Don Diego started to protest, with a quick look at Nina. "Couldn't he make it a little later?" The Frenchman didn't even deign to answer Don Diego. Thrusting a card into the Spaniard's hand, he said, curtly: "Your seconds can find mc here'" (To be continued) 'Firefly," Ravishingly beautiful, her dance was spirited, sophisticated, sensuous. . -3 v.- The eyes of the entire audience, . mostly men, were fastened on The Firefly. Spaniards made up the " c great majority of those present; ' .' here and there, one saw a sprinkl-1 sprinkl-1 ing of uniformed French officers. The one man in the cafe not en-N en-N tranced by Nina's dancing was one cf of these Frenchmen. Sitting alone ,: at a small table near a doorway, "n : he raged inwardly as Nina smiled 'at those around her. K Mad applause greeted the conclu-1J conclu-1J - sion of the dance. And cheering-1 cheering-1 -most enthusiastically was Don 1 Diego, a handsome young Spaniard who sat near the dance floor. As ''. Eiie passed him on her way to th;; '. corridor, Nina flashed the Spaniard Cr- a warm glance of appreciation. Etienne could stand no more. t Glowering furiously, he slammed rj: his glass to the table, spilling its; j iV; contents. Quickly he preceded Nina t, Into the corridor. As she entered I the hallway he grabbed her arm. ' He demanded the name of the man j , 1' v.ho was more attractive to Nina' than he. In laughing remonstrance, she turned her back and walked Jll' away. a: In her dressing room, Lola, a-; Nina's faithful maid, who had watched the proceedings, was 11 anxious. Despite her own anxiety, iU- however, Nina assured her she would take care of the situation. C "It would be awful if anything happened to the Marouis," Lola iri EaitL , ' "Don't worry. Nothing will hap-1 hap-1 Pen to him," Nina promised. Throwing aside all thoughts of pp. Etienne's jealousy, Nina adjusted X her exquisite shawl, lifted her fan high and started forth for her next Eong as the music struck up again. The audience went wild at her re-appearance. re-appearance. While she sang, she walked be----tween the tables, flirting dcliberate-u'' dcliberate-u'' ly and indiscriminately with the ui men. As she approached the table si, where Don Diego sat, he suddenly 0l stretched out his hand and took ... "era in it, pulling her around to ,; face him. His features relaxed in a boyish grin. l' Nina started to pull her hand if:-, away when, for the first time, she ui,i-looked closely at him. A thought 0! came to her mind. Here was a good-looking good-looking young man, one whom c hl'enne might imagine to be his 5 ' successor. Here was a chance to pi tniow the Frenchman off the trail. ' With a quick glance to assure riS- herself that Etienne was .watching, v 1 che started to sing solely to the 1 Spaniard, concentrating all her charm, upon him. From the corner $ -l V er eye 3hc saw Etienne stiffen. JMna was beginning to enjoy thi3. nd so was the audience, sensing , n,nw romance blossoming before tti Lheir eyes. nd ; 3 Nina's song came to a finish, |