第10章

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。