第48章

“Feelingbetternow？“ Ilookedup。JosephTresswasspeaking。 “What’sthematter？HaveIbeenill？“ “Youappeartohavebeeninsomekindofswoon。“Tress’stonewaspeculiar，evenalittledry。 “Swoon！Ineverwasguiltyofsuchathinginmylife。“ “NorwasI，untilIsmokedthatpipe。“ Isatup。TheactofsittingupmademeconsciousofthefactthatIhadbeenlyingdown。Conscious，too，thatIwasfeelingmorethanalittledazed。ItseemedasthoughIwaswakingoutofsomestrange，lethargicsleep——akindoffeelingwhichIhavereadofandheardabout，butneverbeforeexperienced。 “WhereamI？“ “You’reonthecouchinyourownroom。YouWEREonthefloor；butIthoughtitwouldbebettertopickyouupandplaceyouonthecouch——thoughnooneperformedthesamekindofficetomewhenI wasonthefloor。“ AgainTress’stonewasdistinctlydry。 “HowcameYOUhere？“ “Ah，that’sthequestion。“Herubbedhischin——ahabitofhiswhichhasannoyedmemorethanoncebefore。“Doyouthinkyou’resufficientlyrecoveredtoenableyoutounderstandalittlesimpleexplanation？“Istaredathim，amazed。Hewentonstrokinghischin。“ThetruthisthatwhenIsentyouthepipeImadeaslightomission。“ “Anomission？“ “Iomittedtoadviseyounottosmokeit。“ “Andwhy？“ “Because——well，I’vereasontobelievethethingisdrugged。“ “Drugged！“ “Orpoisoned。“ “Poisoned！“Iwaswideawakeenoughthen。Ijumpedoffthecouchwithaceleritywhichprovedit。 “Itisthisway。Ibecameitsownerinratherasingularmanner。“ Hepaused，asifformetomakearemark；butIwassilent。“ItisnotoftenthatIsmokeaspecimen，but，forsomereason，Ididsmokethis。Icommencedtosmokeit，thatis。HowlongI continuedtosmokeitismorethanIcansay。Ithadonmethesamepeculiareffectwhichitappearstohavehadonyou。WhenI recoveredconsciousnessIwaslyingonthefloor。“ “Onthefloor？“ “Onthefloor。Inaboutasuncomfortableapositionasyoucaneasilyconceive。Iwaslyingfacedownward，withmylegsbentunderme。IwasneversosurprisedinmylifeasIwaswhenI foundmyselfWHEREIwas。AtfirstIsupposedthatIhadhadastroke。ButbydegreesitdawneduponmethatIdidn’tFEELasthoughIhadhadastroke。“Tress，bytheway，hasbeenanarmysurgeon。“Iwasconsciousofdistinctnausea。Lookingabout，I sawthepipe。Withmeithadfallenontothefloor。Itookitforgranted，consideringthedelicacyofthecarving，thatthefallhadbrokenit。ButwhenIpickeditupIfounditquiteuninjured。 WhileIwasexaminingitathoughtflashedtomybrain。Mightitnotbeanswerableforwhathadhappenedtome？Suppose，forinstance，itwasdrugged？Ihadheardofsuchthings。Besides，inmycasewerepresentallthesymptomsofdrugpoisoning，thoughwhatdrughadbeenusedIcouldn’tintheleastconceive。I resolvedthatIwouldgivethepipeanothertrial。“ “Onyourself？oronanotherparty，meaningme？“ “Onmyself，mydearPugh——onmyself！AtthatpointofmyinvestigationsIhadnotbeguntothinkofyou。Ilitupandhadanothersmoke。“ “Withwhatresult？“ “Well，thatdependsonthestandpointfromwhichyouregardthething。Fromonepointofviewtheresultwaswhollysatisfactory—— Iprovedthatthethingwasdrugged，andmore。“ “Didyouhaveanotherfall？“ “Idid。Andsomethingelsebesides。“ “Onthataccount，Ipresume，youresolvedtopassthetreasureontome？“ “Partlyonthataccount，andpartlyonanother。“ “Onmyword，Iappreciateyourgenerosity。Youmighthavelabeledthethingaspoison。“ “Exactly。ButthenyoumustrememberhowoftenyouhavetoldmethatyouNEVERsmokeyourspecimens。“ “Thatwasnoreasonwhyyoushouldn’thavegivenmeahintthatthethingwasmoredangerousthandynamite。“ “Thatdidoccurtomeafterwards。ThereforeIcalledtosupplytheslightomission。“ “SLIGHTomission，youcallit！Iwonderwhatyouwouldhavecalleditifyouhadfoundmedead。“ “IfIhadknownthatyouINTENDEDsmokingitIshouldnothavebeenatallsurprisedifIhad。“ “Really，Tress，Iappreciateyourkindnessmoreandmore！Andwhereisthisexampleofyoursplendidbenevolence？Haveyoupocketedit，regrettingyourlapseintotheunaccustomedpathsofgenerosity？Orisitsmashedtoatoms？“ “Neithertheonenortheother。Youwillfindthepipeuponthetable。Ineitherdesireitsrestorationnorisitinanywayinjured。ItismerelyanexpressionofpersonalopinionwhenIsaythatIdon’tbelievethatitCOULDbeinjured。Ofcourse，havingdiscovereditsdeleteriousproperties，youwillnotwanttosmokeitagain。YouwillthereforebeabletoenjoytheconsciousnessofbeingthepossessorofwhatIhonestlybelievetobethemostremarkablepipeinexistence。Goodday，Pugh。“ HewasgonebeforeIcouldsayaword。Iimmediatelyconcluded，fromtheprecipitancyofhisflight，thatthepipeWASinjured。 ButwhenIsubjectedittocloseexaminationIcoulddiscovernosignsofdamage。WhileIwasstilleyingitwithjealousscrutinythedoorreopened，andTresscameinagain。 “Bytheway，Pugh，thereisonethingImightmention，especiallyasIknowitwon’tmakeanydifferencetoyou。“ “Thatdependsonwhatitis。Ifyouhavechangedyourmind，andwantthepipebackagain，Itellyoufranklythatitwon’t。Inmyopinion，athingoncegivenisgivenforgood。“ “Quiteso；Idon’twantitbackagain。Youmaymakeyourmindeasyonthatpoint。ImerelywantedtotellyouWHYIgaveityou。“ “Youhavetoldmethatalready。“ “Onlypartly，mydearPugh——onlypartly。Youdon’tsupposeI shouldhavegivenyousuchapipeasthatmerelybecauseithappenedtobedrugged？Scarcely！IgaveityoubecauseI discoveredfromindisputableevidence，andtomycost，thatitwashaunted。“ “Haunted？“ “Yes，haunted。Goodday。“ Hewasgoneagain。Iranoutoftheroom，andshoutedafterhimdownthestairs。Hewasalreadyatthebottomoftheflight。 “Tress！Comeback！Whatdoyoumeanbytalkingsuchnonsense？“ “Ofcourseit’sonlynonsense。Weknowthatthatsortofthingalwaysisnonsense。Butifyoushouldhavereasontosupposethatthereissomethinginitbesidesnonsense，youmaythinkitworthyourwhiletomakeinquiriesofme，ButIwon’thavethatpipebackagaininmypossessiononanyterms——mindthat！“ Thebangofthefrontdoortoldmethathehadgoneoutintothestreet。Ilethimgo。IlaughedtomyselfasIreenteredtheroom。Haunted！Thatwasnotabadideaofhis。Isawthewholepositionataglance。Thetruthofthematterwasthathedidregrethisgenerosity，andhewasreadytogoanylengthsifhecouldonlysucceedincajolingmeintorestoringhisgift。HewasawarethatIhaveviewsuponcertainmatterswhicharenotwhollyinaccordancewiththosewhicharepopularlysupposedtobetheviewsoftheday，andparticularlythatonthequestionofwhatarecommonlycalledsupernaturalvisitationsIhaveastandpointofmyown。Therefore，itwasnotabadmoveonhisparttotrytomakemebelievethataboutthepipeonwhichheknewIhadsetmyhearttherewassomethingwhichcouldnotbeaccountedforbyordinarylaws。Yet，ashisownsensewouldhavetoldhimitwoulddo，ifhehadonlyallowedhimselftoreflectforamoment，themovefailed。 BecauseIamnotyetsofargoneastosupposethatapipe，athingofmeerschaumandofamber，inthesenseinwhichIunderstandtheword，COULDbehaunted——apipe，amerepipe。 “Hollo！Ithoughtthecreature’slegsweretwinedrightroundthebowl！“ Iwasholdingthepipeinmyhand，regardingitwiththeaffectionateeyeswithwhichaconnoisseurdoesregardacurio，whenIwasinducedtomakethisexclamation。Iwascertainlyundertheimpressionthat，whenIfirsttookthepipeoutofthebox，two，ifnotthreeofthefeelershadbeentwinedaboutthebowl—— twinedTIGHTLY，sothatyoucouldnotseedaylightbetweenthemandit。Nowtheywerealmostentirelydetached，onlythetipstouchingthemeerschaum，andthoseparticularfeelersweregatheredupasthoughthecreaturewereintheactoftakingaspring。OfcourseIwasunderamisapprehension:thefeelersCOULDN’Thavebeentwined；amomentbeforeIshouldhavebeenreadytobetathousandtoonethattheywere。Still，onedoesmakemistakes，andveryegregiousmistakes，attimes。Atthesametime，IconfessthatwhenIsawthatdreadful-lookinganimalpoisedontheextremeedgeofthebowl，foralltheworldasthoughitwerejustgoingtospringatme，Iwasalittlestartled。IrememberedthatwhenI wassmokingthepipeIdidthinkIsawtheupliftedtentaclemoving，asthoughitwerereachingouttome。AndIhadaclearrecollectionthatjustasIhadbeensinkingintothatstrangestateofunconsciousness，Ihadbeenundertheimpressionthatthecreaturewaswrithingandtwisting，asthoughithadsuddenlybecomeinstinctwithlife。Underthecircumstances，thesereflectionswerenotpleasant。IwishedTresshadnottalkedthatnonsenseaboutthethingbeinghaunted。Itwassurelysufficienttoknowthatitwasdruggedandpoisonous，withoutanythingelse。 Ireplaceditinthesandalwoodbox。Ilockedtheboxinacabinet。Quiteapartfromthequestionastowhetherthatpipewasorwasnothaunted，Iknowithauntedme。Itwaswithmeinafigurative——whichwasworsethanactual——sensealltheday。Stillworse，itwaswithmeallthenight。Itwaswithmeinmydreams。 Suchdreams！PossiblyIhadnotyetwhollyrecoveredfromtheeffectsofthatinsidiousdrug，but，whetherorno，itwasverywrongofTresstosetmythoughtsintosuchachannel。HeknowsthatIamofahighlyimaginativetemperament，andthatitiseasiertogetmorbidthoughtsintomymindthantogetthemoutagain。BeforethatnightwasthroughIwishedveryheartilythatI hadneverseenthepipe！Iwokefromonenightmaretofallintoanother。Onedreadfuldreamwaswithmeallthetime——ofahideous，greenreptilewhichadvancedtowardmeoutofsomeawfuldarkness，slowly，inchbyinch，untilitclutchedmeroundtheneck，and，gluingitslipstomine，suckedthelife’sbloodoutofmyveinsasitembracedmewithaslimykiss。Suchdreamsarenotrestful。Iwokeanythingbutrefreshedwhenthemorningcame。AndwhenIgotupanddressedIfeltthat，onthewhole，itwouldperhapshavebeenbetterifIneverhadgonetobed。Mynerveswereunstrung，andIhadthatgenerallytremulousfeelingwhichis，Ibelieve，aninseparablecompanionofthemoreadvancedstagesofdipsomania。Iatenobreakfast。Iamnobreakfasteaterasarule，butthatmorningIateabsolutelynothing。 “Ifthissortofthingistocontinue，IwillletTresshavehispipeagain。Hemayhavethelaughofme，butanythingisbetterthanthis。“ ItwaswithalmostfunerealforebodingsthatIwenttothecabinetinwhichIhadplacedthesandalwoodbox。ButwhenIopeneditmyfeelingsofgloompartiallyvanished。OfwhatphantasieshadI beenguilty！Itmusthavebeenanentiredelusiononmyparttohavesupposedthatthosetentaculahadeverbeentwinedaboutthebowl。ThecreaturewasinexactlythesamepositioninwhichIhadleftitthedaybefore——as，ofcourse，Iknewitwouldbe——poised，asifabouttospring。IwastellingmyselfhowfoolishIhadbeentoallowmyselftodwellforamomentonTress’swords，whenMartinBrasherwasshownin。 Brasherisanoldfriendofmine。Wehaveacommonground——ghosts。 Onlyweapproachthemfromdifferentpointsofview。Hetakesthescientific——psychological——inquiryside。Heisalwaysanxioustohearofaghost，sothathemayhaveanopportunityof“showingitup。“ “I’vesomethinginyourlinehere，“Iobserved，ashecamein。 “Inmyline？Howso？I’Mnotpipemad。“ “No；butyou’reghostmad。Andthisisahauntedpipe。“ “Ahauntedpipe！Ithinkyou’rerathermoremadaboutghosts，mydearPugh，thanIam。“