Page:Some unpublished letters of Henry D. and Sophia E. Thoreau; a chapter in the history of a still-born book.djvu/110

 deep 'content,' can we not say with that sister, "of course he was not disappointed when his time came." But, can such a life be in any sense a failure, in any sense be incomplete; is an early home-call an 'injury'; is it indeed an 'indignity' to be summoned from this pitiful Vanity Fair by the Master of the Vineyard?

Concord, Oct. 20, 1862. Dear Friend:

Absence from home together with illness must be my apology for not before acknowledging your last kind letter.

Certainly it will give me much pleasure to present the walking-cane which you propose to send to Mr., who feels keenly the