346 NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 



humblest washwoman to the most distinguished guest, was a 

 marked characteristic. This allusion to distinguished guests 

 reminds one of an anecdote he often told of Huxley. During 

 the great biologist's visit to Cambridge, Mr. Shaler invited him 

 and his wife to take a drive in the country. After passing the 

 market-gardens out Belmont way, Huxley suddenly called out, 

 "Stop, driver, stop. There, Shaler," he exclaimed, "is n't that 

 tobacco growing in that field? ' ' Receiving " yes ' ' for an answer, 

 he stood up in the carriage, waved his hat, and shouted three 

 cheers for tobacco, adding in an aggrieved tone : "And to think 

 that I should have lived forty years without knowing the com- 

 fort of the weed." 



Mr. Shaler struck up quite a comradeship with Mr. Kipling 

 when the latter visited Cambridge. The novelist was capti- 

 vated by the professor's stories; those relating to Western 

 experience, he said, were just the things no writer of fiction 

 could ever invent. They first met at a dinner at Miss Grace 

 Norton's, and Mr. Shaler liked to tell the story of what hap- 

 pened there. On their way home he said to his wife, "What 

 were you and Kipling talking about at table? You both looked 

 as mystified as if you had seen a ghost." The substance of the 

 talk was as follows. In a lull of the general conversation she 

 heard Kipling say to his hostess, "When I was at Tisbury last 

 summer." The confusion of tongues made the rest of his 

 remark inaudible. When the opportunity occurred she asked, 

 "How long were you at Tisbury, Mr. Kipling?" -"Six 

 weeks," was the answer. "Six weeks," she repeated, "how 

 extraordinary!" Again something was said on the other side 

 which made him turn a deaf ear. A few minutes later he in- 

 quired, "Pray, madam, what is so extraordinary in my being 

 at Tisbury?" adding almost defiantly, "Yes, I stayed there 

 six weeks with my uncle and then went to Chilmark." "To 

 Chilmark?" she exclaimed. "Yes, to Chilmark." "How 

 remarkable ! " - " Why remarkable? " " Because, to tell you 

 the truth, there are not many people like you who go to Tisbury, 



