“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。“