The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-08-19
HOW PRIVATE BANCROFT
BECAME AN OFFICER
lOriginal.1

lOrlg1naI1
Sandy Bancroft. private in the |
United States forces in the province
of Santiago in 1898. was hungry. Ra-
tions had not been forthcoming for /
several days. and the boys stomachs |
instead of being n healthy convex be- |
gan to be a sickly concave. Sandy was |
on picket, and exposure made food all |
the more necessary.
I'm going foraging," he said.
Better not" said his comrades.
you'll fall into the hands OF the da
goes. and IL you don't you'll get into
trouble for leaving your post"
Sandy preferred to take both risks
TO enduring the pangs OF hunger. The
officer of the picket was worn out and
sound asleep. SO he need not know OF
Sandy's absence. and IL he did he
would not dare report him since he
was himself liable To he shot for sleep
ing on post. Singing his KFag-Jorgen-
sen over his shoulder. Sandy buckled
his revolver to his hip and started
| forth. Seeing n house I'm the distance,
| he made for IL and on reaching 1t
4 knocked at the door. A black eyed
] Spanish girl opened IL and stood look
4
ing at him suspiciously.
! Gould you give me n bitey" asked
the soldier. lifting his hat politely.
The girl shook her head, indicating
4 that she did not understand English.
whereupon Sandy made pantoLnime
| motions descriptive OF shoveling In
food. The girl led the way into the
dining room and placed on the table
the remains of last nights supper.
Sandy exercised great ingenuity in
pantomiming his gratitude. then sat
down and fell to. Meanwhile the girl
left the room. After the soldier had
eaten his fill he stuffed his pockets for
his comrades. then arose from the tn
BILE and. taking his gun. was about to
depart when the girl came in, appar-
emily in great excitement. and, pan
tomiming In her turn. gave him TO I'M
derstand that the Spaniards were COM
ing. Opening trapdoor. she pointed
to q staircase leading TO the cellar.
Sandy descended. and the door was
closed. Then he heard the sound of
heavy furniture being moved on to
the trap. and it began to dawn upon
him that he was a prisoner.
: Having got in, the first thing he did
was to look about him to discover
, how he could get out. There was but
one little square window, near the
! ceiling, which was covered with an
. iron grating. Consequently Sandy was
. as safe as rat In a trap. He had not
, been there long before the girl, ac-
companied by a Spanish officer, ap-
l peared at the window. Sandy seized
his rife, but the two speedily betook
themselves out OF range. He could
!, hear them chattering and made out
from one or two words he understood
1 that one OF them-the officer. he sup
!. posed-would go for guard to remove
! him. Then he heard footsteps In the
' room above. after which all was quiet
Sandy gave himself up as captured
: for a time, then resumed his interrupt
. ed accommodating for means OF es
cape. A chimney was built from the
i. cellar. where IL was Of stone. with nc
opening, but the house was very old
and the stones had been loosely put
l. together. Sandy tugged at one ol
@ them and succeeded I'm removing 1t
s. This loosened two or three more, ant
. he put his head and shoulders through
The chimney was large enough fo
|. him to pass through 1t, and he deter
!. mined TO climb up. Leaving his rifle
. relying solely on his revolver, he go
through the aperture and, using bacl
and knees. Skinned up to the foo
above, where he encountered a broad
|. fat hearthstoue. Sandy was prett,
strong and succeeded in lifting 1t /,
few inches. Through the crack h
saw the Spanish officer sitting with hi
arms and head on a table. asleep.
Sandy's movements from this ppin
were conducted with the utmost care
Bracing himself. he gave the stone an
other lift and. drawing his revolver
put 1t lengthwise between one end am
/ the floor. This was a critical moment
IL the officer awakened, Sandy wa
lost. Resting only a moment. he CAV
the stone one more tug and got 1t o
f end. Then be gently rested 1T agains
the fireplace aud Ia another momen
was sitting on coping.
At this moment loose stone becam
\ detached and dropped to the cellal
making a great noise. The office
raised his head. and great was his al
tonishment at seeing Sandy sitting 1
the fireplace. For a moment he SCENE
Z paralyzed. Then. drawing q pistol, b
, was about to fire when his arm fe
limp and his pistol dropped on the aoo
Sandy had winged him.
~ Hands up! Bout faceI March.
Y cried Sandy. but as the officer did NJ
N understand English his oaptor wa
- obliged to resort to pantomime agail
which the officer. with q revolvt
pointed at him. was not slow In unde
] standing. Sandy marched his captiy
J. out Of the house and toward the Amer
al can lines. When lie got within hailin
distance pf the picket, bullet san
by his ear from the rear, and, turning
= he saw a dozen spaniards. led by ii
girl who had trapped him. standing {
rise in the ground. gesticulating.
the same moment the picket advance
to Sandy's rescue. =.
Captain Mptphy of the picket DO,
had finished two hours' pap and wa
= rubbing his eyes when he heard IL
n, firing. Starting up. he saw Sand
Bancroft coming In with his prisoner
"What were you doing outside II
Of line?" demanded the captain sternly.
70: :.Reconnoitering." said Sandy.
!6e Tie officer tGaught Of bis pap on po
he and concluded TO coIbpromise for Z
all lence with Sandy and the men WI
To We're munchlng the food Sandy ha
of brought for them