The Prairie Detective: Secret Service Series No. 24 — page 176: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

174 THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. doors came together with a loud crash, and he was a prisoner. As he crawled, half stunned, to his feet, he heard a, brief scuffle without, and then all was still. He next groped his way up the steps and tried the doors. They were as’immovable as a granite rock, and he was a prisoner. The darkness surrounding him was intensely black. It was so heavy that he could almost feel it. The air was thick and oppres- sive. There was no longer afree draught through the confined chamber. In place of the crisp, cold breeze, the close atmosphere became damp and clammy. Ryan sat down upon the wooden steps to think. How large was his cell? Was there another outlet? If not, where did the current of air come from? There must be. He would go down the steps and see. He rose, and stepped cautiously down. His feet touched the floor. Heavens! There was a covering of water upon it several inches deep! He remembered that when he first entered the apartment it was perfectly dry. What, then, did this mean? Horror! The solution flashed upon him. The subterranean passage through which the air had formerly come was now filled with running water. It was only a question of time when the place would be filled. And then—— He shuddered at the thought. After an instant he rushed wildly up the stairs and pounded upon the doors until he had laid his knuckles bare to the bone. It was useless; the barrier stood firm. Then he went down again. The water was above the first stair, and creeping upward. He returned, and sat upon the upper plank.~ It seemed but an instant when the water touched his feet. Then it crept slowly toward _— comicbooks.co