The Prairie Detective — page 187: what you’re looking at

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

178 THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. the bank of the stream behind the house. Thus the cellar could be filled up at will. Then, after the water had remained long enough to accomplish the pur- pose of the chief, by pulling another cord he could hft a second gate in the cellar itself, which con- nected with an underground passage that would-con- duct the flood back to the river at a point half a mile | below here. So, you see, if anybody disappeared ~~ suddenly in the house, his body might be readily __# disposed of, and nobody the wiser.’’ Ryan shuddered at the possibility. But his thoughts soon wandered to other subjects. ‘*How does it happen that ye ain’t all took prison- ers?” | ‘“Well,’? replied Sycamore Dan, ‘‘after you were tossed into the cellar, or rather at the very moment, we were both attacked by the remaining scoundrels, and in less than ten seconds were bound, gagged, and taken away. I will say that those fellows did their work up in mighty quick shape. We were thrown into a dark room, and left alone with our re- flections, which, as you may easily imagine, were not of a very pleasant character. ‘“We had been there perhaps half an hour, when _we heard ten or twelve shots, some loud yelling, and then, almost before we knew it, the door was burst in, and we were liberated. ‘““As soon as we got out into the light I saw that the new arrivals-were hone other than the remnants of the hunting party, who had, after their disastrous battle with the Bloodsuckers, reorganized and equipped themselves without loss of time for the purpose of following their enemies and avenging the loss of their companions. Why, even as you were comicbooks com -