Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/278

248 of Thoreau, as he approached his home unexpectedly, with "a portmanteau in one hand and an umbrella in the other," looking "like a peddlar of small wares." To offset any suspicion of reproach for this initial vision, however, Mr. Ricketson always testified to the courtesy and fine-breeding of Thoreau as host or guest. In one of the letters to Miss Sophia, this friend gives a true glimpse of his own composite nature, which would so fully satisfy the ideals of his philosopher-teacher,—"Busy about farm-work but not neglectful of the Muses." Among the letters from Mr. Ricketson are two written to Thoreau during his last weeks of illness. In one he chronicles, with the accuracy of the naturalist and the rapture of the poet, the signs of incipient spring from the wild geese and the golden-winged woodpecker to the robin and the catkins, a surety that Thoreau retained, to the last, his strong interest in nature. The second letter is here reproduced entire; it shows the warm, noble friendship and also proclaims the sure faith of this Quaker poet-naturalist, a quality which enhanced the affinity between the two men:—

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"13th April, 1862.

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"I received a letter from your dear sister a few days ago informing me of your continued