Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/185

 MT. 30.] TO R. W. EMERSON. 161

with an allusion to the Indians of that name near Bangor. His letter to her and those which fol low were written from Emerson s house, where Thoreau lived during the master s absence across the ocean. It was in the orchard of this house that Alcott was building that summer-house at which Thoreau, with his geometrical eye, makes merry in the next letter.

TO B. W. EMERSON (iN ENGLAND).

CONCORD, November 14, 1847.

DEAR FKIEND, I am but a poor neighbor to you here, a very poor companion am I. I understand that very well, but that need not prevent my writing to you now. I have almost never written letters in my life, yet I think I can write as good ones as I frequently see, so I shall not hesitate to write this, such as it may be, knowing that you will welcome anything that reminds you of Concord.

I have banked up the young trees against the winter and the mice, and I will look out, in my careless way, to see when a pale is loose or a nail drops out of its place. The broad gaps, at least, I will occupy. I heartily wish I could be of good service to this household. But I, who have only used these ten digits so long to solve the problem of a living, how can I ? The world is a cow that is hard to milk, life does not