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Show j POINT THAT PUZZLED KIPLING Request for Ac'- ,ph He Understood, but the Fee. It is fortunate that Rudyard Kipling has tho happy faculty of seeing tho humorous side of things when hiB patience pa-tience is so often taxed by tho curiosity curi-osity of the public, hut in tho follow- I ing case he must have been sorely puz- zled as well as amused. While he was recovering from his illness In New York some years ago a young lady who was staying at tho same hotel and who had frequently seen Mr. and Mrs. Kipling in tho restaurant, res-taurant, was most anxious to secure his autograph, yet had not tho courage cour-age to ask him for it. One day, however, how-ever, when she saw them enter their . , rooms, she was emboldened to write a note asking Mr. Kipling to ho good enough to give it to her. Waylaying a chambermaid sho asked her to take In the note, slipping a 10-cent piece into her hand as a fee to her for the slight I service. The maid went to tho door, knocked and entered with tho note,., while the young lady hovered nearby In the hall. After a moment or so sho heard a loud laugh ring out from Kipling's -rooms and presently tho maid returned re-turned with the coveted autograph. "W hat. did they say when thoy read tho note?" she eagerly asked of tho maid. "He didn't seem to mind at all, ma'am," was tho startling reply; "but Mr. Kipling said ho didn't quite understand under-stand what the 10 cents was for!" Town and Country. |