Page:Some unpublished letters of Henry D. and Sophia E. Thoreau; a chapter in the history of a still-born book.djvu/116

 for Thoreau himself, but arriving from distant California too late.

Concord, March 4, 1863. Dear Sir:

The cane arrived at this place last evening and was delivered to me, in perfect order. X. Y. Z.

I have in my keeping the very express-receipt that was issued to the donor of the cane, and it contains just as much pathos as the recipient's "communication"—and not an iota less! This cold-storage 'communication' of Mr. X. Y. Z. is sui generis—and yet we are told that only the amphibia have oval blood-corpuscles.

The cane was of manzanita wood, the handle was made from a buffalo horn, and the silver mountings were