l return this night?”“I have spoken with his haggard lady friend many times; and she has been sufficiently prepared. As a secondary measure, Deputy has been given orders to follow Jasper. He will not be out of our sight at any point this night.” The visitor sat very tense as the crucial night bore down upon him.Thinking for a moment, Grewgious ordered, “We all meet in Jasper’s chambers at ten to-night. There, we will wait until our man of the evening, returns. Go now and rest, it will be a long night.” With those words, the visitor slipped out of the door, as suddenly as he appeared.In another part of the thick haze, Jasper arrived at his destination, and entered the house. The old woman met him immediately, as if she had been waiting for him all evening. She quickly hustled him though the dark room and onto the bed. Beside the bed, awaited a pipe, already prepared and for its visitor. Without uttering a word as of yet, the disheveled woman handed the pipe to her visitor and held a match up ready to light it.Confused by the anxiousness of his host, Jasper held the pipe in his lap, asking, “Woman, why such haste? Why hurry? No other smokers are in here.”Finally realizing the demeanor in which she had been acting, she knelt on the floor beside the man, looking up at him, “I sense a storm tonight, always gives me that anxious mood. I ‘pologize, my dear.” She was on her feet again as though she could not bear to look at her visitor for more than two minutes. Striking a spark, she lit the pipe. The magic smoke began to creep up, twirling and dancing with the thick air of the room. Sensing no apparent trouble, Jasper raised the pipe to his lips and took one long deep puff. No words were spoken, and the old woman refilled the pipe with a pinch of the strange substance when it appeared to flickering out.Soon, Jasper’s eyelids begin to flicker with sleep’s weight. He...
