Sport: Death of a Matador

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By last year, the frail health that had given him his tragic dignity began to get the better of him. He developed a grave heart condition, and he was warned to stay away from his ranch, to avoid riding horses and tilting with bulls. But with the spring, Belmonte could not stay away, could not forgo riding Maravilla, his favorite horse. An hour with the bulls last week left him with a pain so intense he feared he would die from it. Finally he made his decision. He mounted Maravilla for a last fond ride across his plain. He spoke with special kindness to each of his peones, rode to his whitewashed ranch bouse and disappeared into his study. There he took a pistol from a table drawer, and with one shot to the temple, he was dead. He would have been 70 years old this week.