Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-14

collection which I should as soon think oil
smoking as I should of eating. Ask q china
maniac to let YOU have afternoon tea out oil
his old Chelsea, and you will learn some
home truths as to the durability of human
friendships. The glory of the pipe, as Tress
had suggested. lay in its carving. Not that
1 claim that it was beautiful, any more
than 1 make such a claim for the carving
on the box. but, as Tress said in his note, it
was curious.
The stem and the bowl were quite plain.
but on the edge of the bowl was perched
some kind af lizard. 1 told myself it was
an octopus when first saw it, but have
since had reason to believe that it was some
almost unique member of the
lizard tribe. The creature was repre-
sented as climbing over the edge
of the bowl down toward the stem, and its
legs, or feelers, or tentacula, or whatever
the things are called, were, if may use a
vulgarism. sprawled about "all over the
place." For instance, two or three OF them
were twined about the bowl two or three of
them were twisted round the stem, and one,
o particularly horrible one, was uplifted in
the air, so that if you put the pipe in your
mouth the thing was pointing straight at
your nose.
Not the least agreeable feature about the
creature was that it was hideously lifelike.
1t appeared to have been carved in amber,
but some coloring matter must have been
introduced, for inside the amber the
creature was of a peculiarly CHASTITY green.
The more 1 examined the pipe the more
amazed was at Tress' generosity. He and
l are rival collectors. l am not going to
say, in SO many words, that his collection of
ufoip ht,f
as a matter of fact he has two or three
rather decent specimens. But to compare
his collection to mine would be absurd.
Tress is conscious of this, and he resents it.
He resents 1t to such an extent that he has
been known at least ON one occasion to de-
clare that one single pipe of his-I believe
he alluded to the Brummagem relic prepos-
terously attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh
was worth the whole of my collection put
together. Although have forgiven this, as
1 hope l always shall forgive remarks made
when envious passions get the better of our
nobler nature, even of Joseph Tress, it is
not to be supposed that have forgotten
it. He was, therefore, not at all
the sort of person from whom / expected to
receive present. And such a PRESENT. 1
do not believe that he himself had finer
pipe in his collection. And to have given
it me! 1 had misjudged the man.
wondered where he had got it from. had
seen his pipes; knew them off by heart
and some nice trumpery he has among them,
too!-but mad never seen that pipe before.
The more I looked at it, the more my
grew. The beast perched upon
the edge OF the bowl was so like life. Its
two bead-like eyes seemed to gleam at me
with positively human intelligence. The
pipe fascinated me 10 such an extent that
actually resolved to-smoke
filled it with Perique. Ordinarily use
Birdseye, but on those very rare occasions
on which / use specimen 1 smoke Perique
1 lit up with quite small sensation ofex
element. As l did SO / kept my eyes
periorce fxed upon the beast. The
beast pointed its upraised tentacle
at me. As 1 inhaled
NE with u feeling OF actual uncanuiness. II
was broad daylight. and 1 was smoking in
trout of the window, yet to such an extent |
vas affected that it seemed to me that the !
tentace was not only vibrating, which,
owing to the peculiarity of its position, was |
quite within the range of possibility, but |
actually moving, elongating-stretching
forward, that is, further toward me, and |
t""aIH bho up VI any hOoo. Oo III plCSsSu /
was 1 by this idea that l took the pire out |
o. my mouth and miuutcly examined the |
beast. Really, the delusion was ex-
cusable. So cunningly had the artist
wrought that he had succeeded in
producing creature which, such was its
uueanniness, I could only hope had no orig
Inal in nature.
Replacing the pipe between my lips took |
several whiffs. Never had smoking had
such an effect Oh me before. Either the
pipe, or the creature on II, exercised soue
singular fascination. / seemed, without an
warning, to be passing into some
aud of dreams. saw the beast, which was