The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-09
! Fl F.;
Stone Soldier
! He Coelly Stood Guard In the !
; Presence Of Mexican Bandits !
Ry F. A. mitchell.
By F. A. Mitchell

government OF Mexico by POrhr10 D1aZ
a young American, Edward Ingersoll.
who had just married young woman,
went to the state Of Durango to set
tie. Northern capital was then pour
ing into Mexico. and the prospect Of
prosperity was greater than ever be-
fore. Diaz had held the discordant
elements in check for many years, and
It looked as If the continued succession
Of revolutions was over.
The young emigrant was a stonecut-
ter and settled in a town where the
wooden buildings were being torn down
to give place to those Of more sub
stantial character. Having purchased
a small tract on the outskirts of the
place, he built on 1t dwelling house
and shed. under which he kept his
material. Besides getting out the or
binary stonework for the ornamental
ton of buildings, he designed and con-
structed marble monuments. His in
. stincts were artistic, and, although his
figures were crude, some of them were
fairly well executed.
But scarcely had Ingersoll become
settled when the revolution was start
ed which was destined to result in the
downfall of the man whose iron hand
had kept the peace in Mexico. The
/ MaderO revolution destroyed the equi-
librium under which Mexico had pros
| pered, and Madero was succeeded by
Huerta. In addition to the regular
forces If they deserve the name) pitted
against each other, bands of men
whose only object was plumber were
let loose, and if anything were needed
to complete the wreck Of Mexico they
supplied the deficiency.
The orders which had kept Ingersoll
busy dropped away. His business was
paralyzed. He would have pulled up
and gone bck to the United States,
but what means he had were invested
in his stoncyard, and he could not get
it out. He must wait for some new
power to seize the government Of Mex
leo that would restrain the conflict
ing elements. Hoping against hope,
he remained where he was, but made
what preparation he could with his
limited means to resist any attack that
might be made upon his premises by
marauders from the different armies or
the bandits.
II Having plenty Of stone in his yard,
he built a miniature fortress around
his dwelling. A parapet was con-
structed of headstones, either finished
or partly finished. Square apertures
were left, intended for loopholes
through which to fire. But since there
was no one except Ingersoll to do the
firing and since he had no ordnance
there was little prospect of a success
full defense
There were several stone figures In
the yard which Ingersoll thought OF
putting up on his fortress as scare
: crows-that is, in the hope that an enc.
my seeing them from distance would
believe them to be veritable defenders.
But unfortunately they were not suit
\ able to the purpose. One was a white
marble angel blowing the resurrection
trump; another was a saint that had
been ordered for a church. There was
only one that would be suitable deco
ration for a fortif1cation, a life size
statue Of a soldier that had been or
dered to mark the grave Of young
man who had died in the Mexican
military service. He was represented
standing as IL on guard, the butt Of his
musket on the ground, the barrel rest
ing against his shoulder. Ingersoll
could not hope that this stone figure
| h., v,,fc tol boz. 70 hyrt
It was the only soldier-like defense at
hand, so he lifted it by derrick onto
the rampant.
The fort might deceive an enemy If
it could not be plainly seen, but In
broad daylight 1t would deceive no
body. At night It would not be seen
at all.
There came a time when a bandit
chief determined to loot the town near
which Ingersoll lived. He had sent
one of his men into the place to dis
cover where the richest plumber was
to be obtained and to report thereon.
When the spy returned among other
persons who might be compelled to
disgorge what would be worth having
he named Ingersoll. There was no
plumber in stones, manufactured or un-
manufactured. but Ingersoll was sup
posed to have money and would doubt
less pay well for the lives of himself
and family. The spy did not visit the
stoneyard. but had heard that some
sort Of defense had been constructed.
The bandit chief, when he approached
the town at night, expecting to take
the people of their guard and prevent
their having time to organize a de-
tense. sent a detachment under one
Manuel Nunez to swoop down on the
stoneyard and extort all the money
the owner had
81 learn" he said, "that the man is
gringo. and If he doesn't give you all
the ready cash you have reason to sup
pose he possesses kill him and take
what you find.'
Now, these instructions were given
| In tha ha.nco Of m Araorsao. e1t+Ix-