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？“