Page:The first and last journeys of Thoreau - lately discovered among his unpublished journals and manuscripts 2.djvu/135

 I hope he may be improving, and need no doctor or absence from home.&quot;

They visited together the scene of the Walden life, bathed in that pure green water; called on Thoreau’s village friends, Emerson, Alcott, Edmund Hosmer, and Mrs. Brooks; and parted for the last time September 5. A few weeks later (Oct. 14, 1861) Thoreau sent his last letter to Ricketson, saying, among other things:

I think that, on the whole, my health is better than when you were here; and my faith in doctors has not increased. I abide by Concord. September was pleasanter and much better for me than August, and October has thus far been quite tolerable. Instead of riding on horseback, I take a ride in a waggon about every other day. My neighbor, Mr. Hoar [Judge Hoar, elder brother of the Senator] has two horses; and he, being away for the most part this fall, has generously offered me the use of one of them; and, as I notice, the dog throws himself in, and does scouting duty. It is easy to talk, but hard to write.