Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial402dodg).pdf/487

1913.] in a terrific roar of noise and a rush of wind that all but swept me over on my back, But as I reeled, another blast came out of the magazine behind me, and pitched me forward. I thought for the moment that the dynamite had been exploded by the concussion, and I made for the door. I was conscious that the door actually  swayed forward a bit, and then settled back under the pull of the counterweight. Then I saw the superintendent laughing, but he was laughing at Will, and not at me, thank Heaven Will had not been quick enough to grab his hat. The explosion wave had carried it off his head, and sent it sailing around the zigzag passageway of the magazine, but—and that was what the superintendent was laughing at—the return wave coming out of the magazine brought the cap sailing back, and dropped it at his feet!

“That is the beauty of this magazine,” laughed the superintendent, picking up the dirty, bedrageled cap and handing it to Will. “If you had been out in the tunnel, your cap would have sailed off, Heaven knows where, and it might have taken you all day to find it. But here in the magazine it is sure to come back on the return wave. Even though it may be a bit dirty, you will always get your head-gear back again. But we ’d better get out of this before the smoke gets too thick,” Already the smell of the fumes was quite noticeable, as they were being driven out by the air that was being pumped to the heading,

It is a curious fact that when one is going through great dangers, whether real or imaginary, the mind is not infrequently impressed with minor details which come back very vividly to a person when he has time to think over his experiences, While I was imagining all the horrors of death in the magazine, my eyes took in a very curious phenomenon, It all came back to me as we were going up in the cage to the surface. When the first explosion wave struck us, it had seemed as if I could actually see the air wave rush into the passageway like a foggy clond, and dash into the still air about me. But the strangest part was that, as it seemed to hit the still air, drops of water seemed to form under the electric lamp where I was standing, and fall like a scattering rain to the ground,

When I mentioned it to the superintendent, he did not think I was crazy, but told me that my fleeting impression was a fact.

“Yes,” he said, “on a damp day such as this, you can actually see water squeezed out of the moist air if you happen to be standing in a very good light.”