"The peppermint," said the Hindu, "tastes to me different. It is like something that we have in India — something from a bush that grows in the wild."
"What is it?" questioned Duncan.
"It makes men sleep. It makes them dream. To them the minutes seem like the hours. To them the hours seem like the days. The things they see are strange."
* * *
A sudden thought came to Duncan. "You mean hashish," he said.
"That is it, sahib," replied the Hindu.
"You think the peppermints contain hashish?"
"It seems to me like that, sahib."
"Then I was drugged last night. Who did it? Why? Where did you get these peppermints, Abdul? Who brought them?"
"I shall answer you, sahib," replied the Hindu. "I shall tell you all. I was in the house all day. I came in this room often, as you have told me to do. At the door of the house I found the package that you had told the man to send. In it was the peppermints. So I brought them here."