Diary of a Drug Fiend

260 The Diary of a Drug Fiend The fantastic appointments of the studio were pro- jections in terms of material substances of his mind interpreted through her consciousness. I had an uncanny feeling that if it vwere not for her, King Lamus would be invisible. In his mind, there was no) difference between any two things, but through her mediation he was able to pretend that there was. The studio was divided into several parts by arrange- ments of curtains. There was a perpetual soft noise of laughter, singing, and dancing; interrupted only by periods of intense silence which was somehow more significant than the sound. The firelight threw doubtful shadow pictures upon the glass roof; and from time to time figures moved with intimate softness through the dark corners and out into the courtyard. These swathed and muffled forms possessed an uncanny quality of unreality. The studio was full of subtle incense. No smoke was visible ; it was as if the atmosphere had somehow been impregnated with it. Our little party fell very silent. He had given Lou and myself some tablets which had the effect of silencing the nervous restlessness which had begun to seize us after even so short an abstinence from heroin. “‘T want you to hang on a little,’ explained our host. “The sting of abstinence will make the indulgence worth while. You have noticed, I am sure, that the vast majjority of doses fail to produce any definite active effect.’’ It was quite true. We had been cursing the drug for its failure to reproduce the original sensations. We had tried to overcome the difficulty by increasing the quantity. But a time had come when we were immune to its action; horridly aware of its absence, without obtaining any satisfaction from its presence. “That stuff I have given you,” Lamus explained, “dilutes your symptoms, and enables you to some extent to bear the discomfort. I want you to take