The Prairie Detective: Secret Service Series No. 24 — page 188: what you’re looking at

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

186 THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. He gave one gasp of joy—of happiness too great for words to tell, and then catching her up in his powerful arms as lightly-as if she had been an in- fant, he imprinted upon her lips a burning kiss. “Wal, doggone my skin, ef thet don’t jest take the cake! Chaw my buttons, pardner, but you’re tlre luckiest chap I ever see! Ho, ho! Caught in the act !”’ Turning quickly about, the lovers saw, standing in the door-way with a grin of satisfaction on his face, Posey Ryan. Behind him were old Doc Har- per, Marian, Robinson, and the rest of the hunters. With a glad cry Esther rushed into her father’s arms, and in another instant was embracing both the old man, and Marian, by turns, scarcely know- ing, in her joy, which made her happiest. | The hunters, led by Ryan, had pretty well turned the house upside down in their endeavors to find their lost friends, who were at length discovered in an underground passage, somewhat similar to the one in which the scout himseif had so narrowly es- caped. Once reunited, the friends were very jubilant, and longed to get back again to Fort Hays. But one thing remained to delay the consummation of that desire and, that was a proposal from Ryan. “I s’pose,’’ he said, “‘thet we mought ez well hev this thing out with the Bloodsuckers now ez enny _~ time. They’ll be back from their trip to Fort Hays in avery few days, ’cos they’ll diskiver thet ther proposed prey ain’t thar. In the meantime we kin be fixin’ things so’s to make ther welcome one thet they’ll be likely to remember ontil they forget it.’ Ihe hunters were not only willing, but anxious to - ~ comicbooks + e « Be