第49章

ThenItoldhimallaboutit。Hewasdeeplyinterested，especiallywhenItoldhimthatthepipewasdrugged。ButwhenIrepeatedTress’swordsaboutitsbeinghaunted，andmentionedmyowndelusionaboutthecreaturemoving，hetookamoreseriousviewofthecasethanIhadexpectedhewoulddo。 “IproposethatweactonTress’ssuggestion，andgoandmakeinquiriesofhim。“ “Butyoudon’treallythinkthatthereisanythinginit？“ “OnthesesubjectsIneverallowmyselftothinkatall。ThereareTress’swords，andthereisyourstory。Itisagreedonallhandsthatthepipehaspeculiarproperties。Itseemstomethatthereisasufficientcaseheretomeritinquiry。“ Hepersuadedme。Iwentwithhim。Thepipe，inthesandalwoodbox，wenttoo。Tressreceiveduswithagrin——agrinwhichwasaccentuatedwhenIplacedthesandalwoodboxonthetable。 “Youunderstand，“hesaid，“thatagiftisagift。OnnotermswillIconsenttoreceivethatpipebackinmypossession。“ Iwasrathernettledbyhistone。 “Youneedbeundernoalarm。Ihavenointentionofsuggestinganythingofthekind。“ “Ourbusinesshere，“beganBrasher——Imustownthathismannerisalittleponderous——“isofascientific，Imaysayalso，andatthesametime，ofajudicialnature。OurobjectisthePursuitofTruthandtheAdvancementofInquiry。“ “Haveyoubeentryinganothersmoke？“inquiredTress，noddinghisheadtowardme。 BeforeIhadtimetoanswer，Brasherwentdroningon: “Ourfriendheretellsmethatyousaythispipeishaunted。“ “IsayitishauntedbecauseitIShaunted。“ IlookedatTress。Ihalfsuspectedthathewaspokingfunatus。 Butheappearedtobeseriousenough。 “Inthesematters，“remarkedBrasher，asthoughheweregivingutterancetoanewandimportanttruth，“thereisascientificandnonscientificmethodofinquiry。Thescientificmethodistobeginatthebeginning。MayIaskhowthispipecameintoyourpossession？“ Tresspausedbeforeheanswered。 “Youmayask。“Hepausedagain。“Oh，youcertainlymayask。Butitdoesn’tfollowthatIshalltellyou。“ “Surelyyourobject，likeours，canbebuttheSpreadingAboutoftheTruth？“ “Idon’tseeitatall。Itispossibletoimagineacaseinwhichthespreadingaboutofthetruthmightmakemelookalittleawkward。“ “Indeed！“Brasherpurseduphislips。“Yourwordswouldalmostleadonetosupposethattherewassomethingaboutyourmethodofacquiringthepipewhichyouhavegoodandweightyreasonsforconcealing。“ “Idon’tknowwhyIshouldconcealthethingfromyou。Idon’tsupposeeitherofyouisanybetterthanIam。Idon’tmindtellingyouhowIgotthepipe。Istoleit。“ “Stoleit！“ Brasherseemedbothamazedandshocked。ButI，whohadpreviousexperienceofTress’smethodsofaddingtohiscollection，wasnotatallsurprised。Someofthepipeswhichhecallshis，ifonlythewholetruthaboutthemwerepubliclyknown，wouldsendhimtojail。 “That’snothing！“hecontinued。“Allcollectorssteal！Theeighthcommandmentwasnotintendedtoapplytothem。Why，Pughtherehas’conveyed’threefourthsofthepipeswhichheflattershimselfarehis。“ Iwassodumfounderedbythechargethatittookmybreathaway。I satinastoundedsilence。Tresswentravingon: “IwassoshyofthisparticularpipewhenIhadobtainedit，thatIputitawayforquitethreemonths。WhenItookitouttohavealookatitsomethingaboutthethingsotickledmethatIresolvedtosmokeit。Owingtopeculiarcircumstancesattendingthemannerinwhichthethingcameintomypossession，andonwhichIneednotdwell——youdon’tliketodwellonthosesortofthings，doyou，Pugh？——Iknewreallynothingaboutthepipe。AswasthecasewithPugh，onepeculiarityIlearnedfromactualexperience。ItwasalsofromactualexperiencethatIlearnedthatthethingwas—— well，Isaidhaunted，butyoumayuseanyotherwordyoulike。“ “Tellus，asbrieflyaspossible，whatitwasyoureallydiddiscover。“ “Takethepipeoutofthebox！“Brashertookthepipeoutoftheboxandhelditinhishand。“Youseethatcreatureonit。Well，whenIfirsthadititwasunderneaththepipe。“ “Howdoyoumeanthatitwasunderneaththepipe？“ “Itwasbunchedtogetherunderneaththestem，justattheendofthemouthpiece，inthesamewayinwhichaflymightbesuspendedfromtheceiling。WhenIbegantosmokethepipeIsawthecreaturemove。“ “ButIthoughtthatunconsciousnessimmediatelyfollowed。“ “Itdidfollow，butnotbeforeIsawthatthethingwasmoving。ItwasbecauseIthoughtthatIhadbeen，inaway，avictimofdeliriumthatItriedthesecondsmoke。SuspectingthatthethingwasdruggedIswallowedwhatIbelievedwouldproveapowerfulantidote。Itenabledmetoresisttheinfluenceofthenarcoticmuchlongerthanbefore，andwhileIstillretainedmysensesIsawthecreaturecrawlalongunderthestemandoverthebowl。Itwasthatsight，Ibelieve，asmuchasanythingelse，whichsentmesilly。WhenIcametoIthenandtheredecidedtopresentthepipetoPugh。ThereisonemorethingIwouldremark。Whenthepipeleftmethecreature’slegsweretwinedaboutthebowl。Nowtheyarewithdrawn。Possiblyyou，Pugh，areabletocapmystorywithalittleonewhichisallyourown。“ “IcertainlydidimaginethatIsawthecreaturemove。ButI supposedthatwhileIwasundertheinfluenceofthedrugimaginationhadplayedmeatrick。“ “Notabitofit！Dependuponit，thebeastisbewitched。Eventomyeyeitlooksasthoughitwere，andtoatrainedeyelikeyours，Pugh！You’vebeenlookingforthedevilalongtime，andyou’vegothimatlast。“ “I——Iwishyouwouldn’tmakethoseremarks，Tress。Theyjaronme。“ “Iconfess，“interpolatedBrasher——Inoticedthathehadputthepipedownonthetableasthoughheweretiredofholdingit—— “that，toMYthinking，suchremarksarenotappropriate。Atthesametimewhatyouhavetoldusis，Iamboundtoallow，alittlecurious。ButofcoursewhatIrequireisoculardemonstration。I haven’tseenthemovementmyself。“ “No，butyouverysoonwilldoifyoucaretohaveapullatthepipeonyourownaccount。Do，Brasher，toobligeme！There’sadear！“ “Itappears，then，thatthemovementisonlyobservablewhenthepipeissmoked。WehaveatleastarrivedatstepNo。1。“ “Here’samatch，Brasher！Lightup，andweshallhavearrivedatstepNo。2。“ TresslitamatchandhelditouttoBrasher。Brasherretreatedfromitsneighborhood。 “Thankyou，Mr。Tress，Iamnosmoker，asyouareaware。AndI havenodesiretoacquiretheartofsmokingbymeansofapoisonedpipe。“ Tresslaughed。Heblewoutthematchandthrewitintothegrate。 “ThenItellyouwhatI’lldo——I’llhaveupBob。“ “Bob——whyBob？“ “Bob“——whoserealnamewasRobertHaines，thoughIshouldthinkhemusthaveforgottenthefact，soseldomwasheaddressedbyit——wasTress’sservant。Hehadbeenanoldsoldier，andhadaccompaniedhismasterwhenhelefttheservice。HewasasdepravedacharacterasTresshimself。Iamnotsureeventhathewasnotworsethanhismaster。Ishallneverforgethowheoncebehavedtowardmyself。HeactuallyhadtheassurancetoaccusemeofattemptingtostealtheWardourStreetrelicwhichTressfondlydeludeshimselfwasoncethepropertyofSirWalterRaleigh。ThetruthisthatIhadslippeditwithmyhandkerchiefintomypocketinafitofabsenceofmind。AmanwhocouldaccuseMEofsuchathingwouldbeguiltyofanything。IwasthereforequiteatonewithBrasherwhenheaskedwhatBobcouldpossiblybewantedfor。 Tressexplained。 “I’llgethimtosmokethepipe，“hesaid。 BrasherandIexchangedglances，butwerefrainedfromspeech。 “Itwon’tdohimanyharm，“saidTress。 “What——notapoisonedpipe？“askedBrasher。 “It’snotpoisoned——it’sonlydrugged。“ “ONLYdrugged！“ “NothinghurtsBob。Heislikeanostrich。Hehasdigestiveorganswhicharepeculiarlyhisown。Itwillonlyservehimasitservedme——andPugh——itwillknockhimover。ItisalldoneinthePursuitofTruthandfortheAdvancementofInquiry。“ IcouldseethatBrasherdidnotaltogetherlikethetoneinwhichTressrepeatedhiswords。Asforme，itwasnottobesupposedthatIshouldputmyselfoutinamatterwhichinnowayconcernedme。IfTresschosetopoisontheman，itwashisaffair，notmine。 Hewenttothedoorandshouted: “Bob！Comehere，youscoundrel！“ Thatisthewayinwhichhespeakstohim。Noreallydecentservantwouldstandit。Ishouldn’tcaretoaddressNalder，myservant，insuchaway。Hewouldgivemenoticeonthespot。Bobcamein。Heisagreathulkingfellowwhoisalwaysonthegrin。 Tresshadadecanterofbrandyinhishand。Hefilledatumblerwiththeneatspirit。 “Bob，whatwouldyousaytoaglassfulofbrandy——therealthing—— myboy？“ “Thankyou，sir。“ “Andwhatwouldyousaytoapullatapipewhenthebrandyisdrunk！“ “Apipe？“Thefellowissharpenoughwhenhelikes。Isawhimlookatthepipeuponthetable，andthenatus，andthenagleamofintelligencecameintohiseyes。“I’ddoitforadollar，sir。“ “Adollar，youthief？“ “Imeanttenshillings，sir。“ “Tenshillings，youbrazenvagabond？“ “Ishouldhavesaidapound。“ “Apound！Waseverthelikeofthat！DoIunderstandyoutoaskapoundfortakingapullatyourmaster’spipe？“ “I’mthinkingthatI’llhavetomakeittwo。“ “Thedeuceyouare！Here，Pugh，lendmeapound。“ “I’mafraidI’veleftmypursebehind。“ “Thenlendmetenshillings——Ananias！“ “IdoubtifIhavemorethanfive。“ “Thengivemethefive。And，Brasher，lendmetheotherfifteen。“ Brasherlenthimthefifteen。Idoubtifweshalleitherofuseverseeourmoneyagain。HehandedthepoundtoBob。 “Here’sthebrandy——drinkitup！“Bobdrankitwithoutaword，drainingtheglassofeverydrop。“Andhere’sthepipe。“ “Isitpoisoned，sir？“ “Poisoned，youvillain！Whatdoyoumean？“ “Itisn’tthefirsttimeI’veseenyourtricks，sir——isitnow？ Andyou’renottheonetogiveapoundfornothingatall。Ifitkillsmeyou’llsendmybodytomymother——she’dliketoknowthatIwasdead。“ “Sendyourbodytoyourgrandmother！Youidiot，sitdownandsmoke！“ Bobsatdown。Tresshadfilledthepipe，andhandedit，withalightedmatch，toBob。Thefellowdeclinedthematch。Hehandledthepipeverygingerly，turningitoverandover，eyingitwithallhiseyes。 “Thankyou，sir——I’lllightupmyselfifit’sthesametoyou。I carrymatchesofmyown。It’sabeautifulpipe，entirely。Ineverseethelikeofitforugliness。Andwhat’stheslimy-lookingvarmintthatlooksasthoughitwouldliketohavemylife？Isitliving，orisitdead？“ “Come，wedon’twanttosithereallday，myman！“ “Well，sir，thelookofthisherepipehasquiteupsetmystomach。 I’dlikeanotherdropofliquor，ifit’sthesametoyou。“ “Anotherdrop！Why，you’vehadatumblerfulalready！Here’sanothertumblerfultoputontopofthat。Youwon’twantthepipetokillyou——you’llbekilledbeforeyougettoit。“ “Andisn’titbettertodieanaturaldeath？“