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。