way through the darkness
stumbled against a wall. Moving his hand along this he found it to be of
rough boards. Indeed, he had a more conclusive proof of this by the fact
that a large splinter of the dried wood pierced his finger, paining
acutely. He pulled it out and sucked the bleeding cut, then wound his
handkerchief around it. One discovery, at least, he had made; the
building, whatever it was, was old. The smell of the board sides
informed him of that much. And there was no flooring.

He now stood thinking, wondering what he should do next. And as he
paused he heard a sound near him. A sound as of quick, low breathing. In
the open such a sound would not have been audible, but in the ghostly
darkness of that strange prison he could hear it clearly when he
listened. Sometimes he could distinguish the momentary pauses between
the breaths and sometimes the faint sound seemed continuous. As he
listened in silent, awful terror, the thumping of his heart seemed to
interrupt the steady, low sound.

It was not normal breathing surely, but it was the sound of breathing.
He was certain of that. He thought it was over near the car.

CHAPTER IX

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. He felt about this and touched something else. He felt along it; it
was smooth and continuous.

And then he knew, and he experienced infinite relief. His hand was upon
the spare tire on the rear of the car. The air was slowly escaping in
irregu