Its music had now ceased, and when I sprang up I found myself to
the waist in very cold water. I guessed at once the use of the levers
outside the cell in the passage which I had noticed in the light of
the lantern on the day I entered the place, and I knew now why it was
that the prison door was not pierced by one of those gratings which
enable the gaoler in the passage to look into the cell any time of
night or day. Prisoners have told me that the uncertainty of an inmate
who never knew when he might be spied upon added to the horror of the
situation, but the water-tight doors of the Trogzmondoff are free from
this feature, and for a very sinister reason.
"The channel in the floor through which the water runs when the cell
is empty, and the tunnel at the ceiling through which the water flows
when the cell is full, give plenty of ventilation, no matter how
tightly the door may he closed. The water rose very gradually until it
reached the top outlet, then its level remained stationary. I floated
on the top quite easily, with as little exertion as was necessary to
keep me in that position. If I raised my head, my brow struck the
ceiling. The next cell to mine, lower down, was possibly empty. I
heard the water pour into it like a little cataract. The next cell
above, and indeed all the cells in that direction were flooded like my
own. Of course it was no trouble for me to keep afloat; my only danger
was that the intense coldness of the water would numb my body beyond
recovery.
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