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？“