下载辰思小说免费APP
“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！Iwonderwhatyouwouldhavecalleditif
后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节
