Iwasquitesuddenlyangrywithhim。“Lookhere，“Isaid，“whotoldyouaboutmygreat-grandmother’srecipes？“
“Well，“hefenced。
“Everytimewe’vemetforaweek，“Isaid，“andwe’vemetprettyoften——you’vegivenmeabroadhintorsoaboutthatlittlesecretofmine。“
“Well，“hesaid，“nowthecat’soutofthebag，I’lladmit，yes，itisso。Ihadit——“
“FromPattison？“
“Indirectly，“hesaid，whichIbelievewaslying，“yes。“
“Pattison，“Isaid，“tookthatstuffathisownrisk。“
Hepursedhismouthandbowed。
“Mygreat-grandmother’srecipes，“Isaid，“arequeerthingstohandle。
Myfatherwasnearmakingmepromise——“
“Hedidn’t？“
“No。Buthewarnedme。Hehimselfusedone——once。“
“Ah！……Butdoyouthink——？Suppose——supposetheredidhappentobeone——“
“Thethingsarecuriousdocuments，“Isaid。
“Eventhesmellof’em……No！“
ButaftergoingsofarPyecraftwasresolvedIshouldgofarther。
IwasalwaysalittleafraidifItriedhispatiencetoomuchhewouldfallonmesuddenlyandsmotherme。IownIwasweak。ButIwasalsoannoyedwithPyecraft。Ihadgottothatstateoffeelingforhimthatdisposedmetosay，“Well，TAKEtherisk！“ThelittleaffairofPattisontowhichIhavealludedwasadifferentmatteraltogether。Whatitwasdoesn’tconcernusnow，butIknew，anyhow，thattheparticularrecipeIusedthenwassafe。TherestIdidn’tknowsomuchabout，and，onthewhole，Iwasinclinedtodoubttheirsafetyprettycompletely。
YetevenifPyecraftgotpoisoned——
ImustconfessthepoisoningofPyecraftstruckmeasanimmenseundertaking。
ThateveningItookthatqueer，odd-scentedsandalwoodboxoutofmysafeandturnedtherustlingskinsover。Thegentlemanwhowrotetherecipesformygreat-grandmotherevidentlyhadaweaknessforskinsofamiscellaneousorigin，andhishandwritingwascrampedtothelastdegree。Someofthethingsarequiteunreadabletome——thoughmyfamily，withitsIndianCivilServiceassociations，haskeptupaknowledgeofHindustanifromgenerationtogeneration——andnoneareabsolutelyplainsailing。ButIfoundtheonethatIknewwastheresoonenough，andsatonthefloorbymysafeforsometimelookingatit。
“Lookhere，“saidItoPyecraftnextday，andsnatchedtheslipawayfromhiseagergrasp。
“SofarasI——canmakeitout，thisisarecipeforLossofWeight。
(“Ah！“saidPyecraft。)I’mnotabsolutelysure，butIthinkit’sthat。
Andifyoutakemyadviceyou’llleaveitalone。Because，youknow——
Iblackenmybloodinyourinterest，Pyecraft——myancestorsonthatsidewere，sofarasIcangather，ajollyqueerlot。See？“
“Letmetryit，“saidPyecraft。
Ileantbackinmychair。Myimaginationmadeonemightyeffortandfellflatwithinme。“WhatinHeaven’sname，Pyecraft，“Iasked，“doyouthinkyou’lllooklikewhenyougetthin？“
Hewasimpervioustoreason。Imadehimpromisenevertosayawordtomeabouthisdisgustingfatnessagainwhateverhappened——never，andthenIhandedhimthatlittlepieceofskin。
“It’snastystuff，“Isaid。
“Nomatter，“hesaid，andtookit。
Hegoggledatit。“But——but——“hesaid。
Hehadjustdiscoveredthatitwasn’tEnglish。
“Tothebestofmyability，“Isaid，“Iwilldoyouatranslation。“
Ididmybest。Afterthatwedidn’tspeakforafortnight。WheneverheapproachedmeIfrownedandmotionedhimaway，andherespectedourcompact，butattheendofafortnighthewasasfatasever。
Andthenhegotawordin。
“Imustspeak，“hesaid。“Itisn’tfair。There’ssomethingwrong。
It’sdonemenogood。You’renotdoingyourgreat-grandmotherjustice。“
“Where’stherecipe？“
Heproduceditgingerlyfromhispocket-book。
Iranmyeyeovertheitems。“Wastheeggaddled？“Iasked。
“No。Oughtittohavebeen？“
“That，“Isaid，“goeswithoutsayinginallmypoordeargreat-grandmother’srecipes。Whenconditionorqualityisnotspecifiedyoumustgettheworst。Shewasdrasticornothing……Andthere’soneortwopossiblealternativestosomeoftheseotherthings。YougotFRESH
rattlesnakevenom。“
“IgotarattlesnakefromJamrach’s。Itcost——itcost——“
“That’syouraffair，anyhow。Thislastitem——“
“Iknowamanwho——“
“Yes。H’m。Well，I’llwritethealternativesdown。SofarasIknowthelanguage，thespellingofthisrecipeisparticularlyatrocious。
By-the-bye，doghereprobablymeanspariahdog。“
ForamonthafterthatIsawPyecraftconstantlyattheclubandasfatandanxiousasever。Hekeptourtreaty，butattimeshebrokethespiritofitbyshakinghisheaddespondently。Thenonedayinthecloakroomhesaid，“Yourgreat-grandmother——“
“Notawordagainsther，“Isaid；andheheldhispeace。
Icouldhavefanciedhehaddesisted，andIsawhimonedaytalkingtothreenewmembersabouthisfatnessasthoughhewasinsearchofotherrecipes。Andthen，quiteunexpectedly，histelegramcame。
“Mr。Formalyn！“bawledapage-boyundermynose，andItookthetelegramandopeneditatonce。
“ForHeaven’ssakecome——Pyecraft。“
“H’m，“saidI，andtotellthetruthIwassopleasedattherehabilitationofmygreatgrandmother’sreputationthisevidentlypromisedthatImadeamostexcellentlunch。
IgotPyecraft’saddressfromthehallporter。PyecraftinhabitedtheupperhalfofahouseinBloomsbury，andIwenttheresosoonasI
haddonemycoffeeandTrappistine。Ididnotwaittofinishmycigar。
“Mr。Pyecraft？“saidI，atthefrontdoor。
Theybelievedhewasill；hehadn’tbeenoutfortwodays。
“Heexpectsme，“saidI，andtheysentmeup。
Irangthebellatthelattice-dooruponthelanding。
“Heshouldn’thavetriedit，anyhow，“Isaidtomyself。“Amanwhoeatslikeapigoughttolooklikeapig。“
Anobviouslyworthywoman，withananxiousfaceandacarelesslyplacedcap，cameandsurveyedmethroughthelattice。
Igavemynameandsheletmeininadubiousfashion。
“Well？“saidI，aswestoodtogetherinsidePyecraft’spieceofthelanding。
“’Esaidyouwastocomeinifyoucame，“shesaid，andregardedme，makingnomotiontoshowmeanywhere。Andthen，confidentially，“’E’slockedin，sir。“
“Lockedin？“
“Lockedhimselfinyesterdaymorningand’asn’tletanyoneinsince，sir。AndeverandagainSWEARING。Oh，my！“
Istaredatthedoorsheindicatedbyherglances。
“Inthere？“Isaid。
“Yes，sir。“
“What’sup？“
Sheshookherheadsadly，“’Ekeepsoncallingforvittles，sir。
’EAVYvittles’ewants。Iget’imwhatIcan。Pork’e’s’ad，sooitpuddin’，sossiges，noobread。Everythinklikethat。Leftoutside，ifyouplease，andmegoaway。’E’seatin’，sir，somethinkAWFUL。“
Therecameapipingbawlfrominsidethedoor:“ThatFormalyn？“
“Thatyou，Pyecraft？“Ishouted，andwentandbangedthedoor。
“Tellhertogoaway。“
Idid。
