Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/318

 294 FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS. [1854,

Who is Menchikoff ? and Nicholas behind there? who the Allies ? Did not we fight a little (little enough to be sure, but just enough to make it interesting) at Alma, at Balaclava, at Inker- maim ? We love to fight far from home. Ah ! the Minie musket is the king of weapons. Well, let us get one then.

I just put another stick into my stove, a pretty large mass of white oak. How many men will do enough this cold winter to pay for the fuel that will be required to warm them? I sup pose I have burned up a pretty good-sized tree to-night, and for what ? I settled with Mr. Tarbell for it the other day ; but that was n t the final settlement. I got off cheaply from him. At last, one will say, &quot; Let us see, how much wood did you burn, sir? &quot; And I shall shudder to think that the next question will be, &quot; What did you do while you were warm?&quot; Do we think the ashes will pay for it ? that God is an ash-man ? It is a fact that we have got to ren der an account for the deeds done in the body.

Who knows but we shall be better the next year than we have been the past? At any rate, I wish you a really new year, commencing from the instant you read this, and happy or unhappy, according to your deserts.

The early part of 1855 was spent by Thomas