Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1912-04-11

| Il learned IN idlcI Coh'Sio"'ioNS
with him that his father, who was
son, a grandson and great-grandson
of artists, had gone into the West as
young man; had fallen in love with
the daughter of an immense cattle
man; had married, and later came
into possession Of the vast estate
This. however, he did not mention at
the time. One day he turned to the
story of his pipes. When a boy, he
said one day he sat on the banks OF
the Pecos and nodded pipe of the
clay about him; and as he nodded II
occurred to him that as his name was
Pipes he would make collection OF
pipes from the Indians around the
place 1t was not long before the
little collection grew. There was such
a fascination to it-so many pipes,
and each with a different history
that the fad became a mania, until
now, he confessed, he was entirely IN
Its power and could not resist 1t.
! "He then brought from the little
cabinet a drawer of old SCARED, much
misused pipes, but each of which bore
its marks of distinction, and a silent
mood of grandeur. These, he said,
we're the beginnings of his collection,
and he told me the tsories of several.
One | remember well. It was made
from a small branch Of tree, both
bowl and stem, and was fringed with
the feathers of an eagle and the teeth
of an immense cat This, / learned
from him, had been used for genera
lions to solemnize the peace-making
of certain wild tribe; and that one
day he had bought it from what was
once had been a naughty chieftain OF
the tribe. but who was then an out
cast and a drunkard. l thought / OBJ
served a culver in his voice as he
added that the poor savage was
spurned by his tribe; and, by the
white man, was looked upon as one
of an inferior race; and there was
mist in his eye, and a sadness in his
voice.
"Oftentimes he would go down to
the river bank and mold in the clay;
and it was one day while there, he
said, that his father happened along,
noticing the figures which he made,
realized that the art of generations
was showing itself, and would have
sent him into the East to an art
school. This he would not do, but
chose to go to the A. & M. College OF
his own state. There was a long
pause; now then denser mist was in
his eye. He blew long curls of smoke
which drifted slowly about him, and
when he spoke again there was that
sadness which | had noticed before.
When he went home for the vacation
he and his father had quarreled-a
bitter quarrel-and he had been sent
away never to return. For several
years he had studied art in Eastern
states, and there had CHANGED upon
some of his choicest pipes. The shade
of sadness had now begun to fade
from his face, and in moment he
smiled. His pipe had now gone out
and he emptied it carefully into an
ash tray, took chamoise skin from
little drawer, polished it, then laid
it snugly in its place on the table. He
then arose and took from the wall a
beautiful pipe whose bowl was the
head of dragon This, he explained,
was a prize from China. He then told
me how the fascination of collecting
had overcome him and he resolved to
travel throughout the world to satisfy
his mania of adding new ones to his
store. 1t was to the Orient that he
first had bent his steps, and the one
he had in his hands was his greatest
prize.
"As he pulled tiny clouds, and rings, |
and wreaths over it, he told me its
history. All! I remember as though
it were now It's hideous little emer-
aid eyes burned into me from out OF
those mists of smoke, and | could pic
ture that savage Monaghan prince to
whom it once belonged; could see the
stealthy assassin place the poison of
the deadly poppy into that very bowl;
and hear the tyrant shrek as, realiz-
ing his inevitable death, he flung it
from him. All! | remember as though
it were now.
II was often with him after that
first visit; in fact, we came to be in
innate friends. Those walls held a
fascination for me-a vision of the
Western continent in those heads,
horns, and lariats, and such har
mony of pipes, every one with its his
tory. All! what a place to sit and
listen to the tales of his mad wander
ings escanades and adventures in ey-