THE TENTH CASE The thought that there was a living presence in that spooky dungeon struck terror to Pee-wee's very soul.

He could not bring himself to move, much less to speak.

But he could not stand idly where he was, and if he should stumble over a human form in that unknown blackness....
What could be more appalling than that?
Was this uncanny place a prison for poor, injured captives?
Was there, lying just a few feet from him, some suffering victim of those scoundrels?
What did it mean?
Pee-wee could only stand, listening in growing fear and agitation.
"Who's there ?" he finally asked, and his own trembling voice seemed strange to him.
There was no answer.
"Who's there ?" he asked again.
Silence; only the low, steady sound; punctuated, as it seemed by his own heart beats.
"Who--is--is anybody there ?" Then, suddenly, in a kind of abandon, he cast off his fears and groped his way with hands before him toward the low sound.

Presently his hand was upon something round and small.

It had a kind of tube running from it.