may hear it any fine
night in the wilds of a tropical country--that gives out a continuous
croak, which exactly corresponds with this measure.

'Al fin y al cabo,' I have taken my plus-cafe; and now that it is very
early morning, I take the nearest way to my virtuous home. On my way
thither, I pause before the saloons of the Philharmonic, where a grand
bal masque of genuine, and doubtful, whites is being held. From my
position on the pavement I can see perfectly well into the salon de bal,
so I will not evade the door-keeper, as others do, by introducing myself
in disguise as somebody else. I observe that the proceedings within have
already begun to grow warm. There is no lack of partners in carnival
time, as everybody, save the black musicians, is dancing the everlasting
contra-danza. Some of the excited toe-trippers have abandoned their
masks. One of these, an olive-complexioned senorita, wears a tell-tale
patch of blue paint on her left cheek; condemning testimony that at some
period of the evening she danced with that 'mamarracho' whose face is
painted like an Indian chief! In a dark corner of the billiard-room,
where two gentlemen attired in the garb of Philip the Second are playing
carambola against a couple of travestied Charles the Fifths, are seated
a snug couple--lover and mistress to all appearance. The dominoed lady
is extremely bashful, her replies are brief and all but inaudible. The
fond youth has proposed a saunter into the refreshing night air, where a
moon, bright enough to read the smallest print by, is shining. His
proposal is acceded to. His heart is glad now: but what will his
feelings be when he discovers that the beloved object is a bearded brute
like himself! The orchestra is playing one of Lino Boza's last danzas.
Lino Boza is, as I have already stated, a negro composer and clarionet
player of great renown in Cuba, and this particular danza is one of the
'pegajosa' or 'irresistible' kind. You have heard it played all over the
town to-day, and to-morrow you will hear it sung with a couple of
doggerel rhymes in creole Spanish, which fit into the music so well as
to 'appear to be the echoes of the _melody_.' The way in which Lino
helps the dancers in their favourite gyrations by his inimitable and
ever-varied performance on the clarionet, should be a warning to
protecting mammas! The step of 'La Danza' is difficult for an amateur to
acquire, but when once it is achieved, and you are fortunate enoug