"What?"
"I had a sample of it given to me some six months ago. It was called yamlang-peholo, and was made in China, from the roots of the yamlang bush—a rare growth found only in the western part of the country. By many Chinamen the yamlang bush is supposed to be accursed, and whenever they come near one they utter a prayer for deliverance from its evils. If you sleep near the yamlang bush it will make you very sick."
"And that powder, what did it look like?"
"It was blue at first but on contact with the air quickly changed to brownish-white and lost itself, it was so fine."
"Evaporated?"
"You can call it that if you wish. It was intense. I held it at arms' length, yet it made me sick and I had cramps for over an hour afterwards."
"It would have killed you if you had placed it to your mouth or nose?"
"Not the slightest doubt of it."
"May I ask where you got the stuff?"
"It was imported into this country by a drug firm merely as a curiosity. They put it up in tiny vials which I suppose were sent around to different persons like myself. It was a dangerous piece of business and I gave them no credit for doing it."