st important of the
Anglo-Indian journals. For the weekly edition of this paper he wrote
many verses and sketches and also served as special correspondent in
various parts of India.

It was in 1889 that the PIONEER sent him on a tour of the world and he
wrote the series of letters afterwards reprinted under the title _From
Sea to Sea_. Kipling, like Stevenson, had to have a story to tell to
bring out all his powers; hence these letters are not among his best
work.

Vividly do I recall Kipling's visit to San Francisco. He came into the
CHRONICLE office and was keenly interested in the fine collections
which made this newspaper's library before the fire the most valuable
on this Coast, if not in the country. He was also much impressed with
the many devices for securing speed in typesetting and other
mechanical work. The only feature of his swarthy face that impressed
one was his brilliant black eyes, which behind his large glasses,
seemed to note every detail. He talked very well, but although he made
friends among local newspapermen, he was unsuccessful in selling any
of his stories to the editors of the Sunday supplements. He soon
went to New York, but there also he failed to dispose of his stories.

[Illustration: RUDYARD KIPLING FROM A CARTOON BY W. NICHOLSON]

Finally Kipling reached London in September, 1889, and after several
months of discouragement, he induced a large publishing house to bring
out _Plain Tales From the Hills_. It scored an immediate success. Like
Byron, the unknown young writer awoke to find himself famous; magazine
editors clamored for his stories at fancy prices and publishers
eagerly sought his work. It may be said to Kipling's credit that he
did not utilize this opportunity to make money out of his sudden
reputation. He doubtless worked over many old sketches, but he put his
best into whatever he gave the public. He married the sister of
Wolcott Balestier, a brilliant American who became very well known in
London as a publishers' agent, and after Balestier's death Kipling
moved to his wife's old home in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he built a
fine country house; but constant trouble with a younger brother of his
wife caused him to abandon this American home and go back to England,
where he set up his lares at Rottingdean, in Surrey. There he has
remained, averaging a book a year, until now he has over twenty-five
large volumes to his credit. In 1907 Kipling was given the Nobel prize
"fo