Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/66

46 mind, well versed in all the studies of that day, with an unusual ambition to learn more of the elementary sciences. At her school in Roxbury, her sister, Sophia, assisted for a while. One letter definitely settles this mooted question regarding Helen's private school: “Helen and Sophia have advertised their intention of opening a boarding-school in Roxbury. H. when there, found a suitable room, and a lady willing to board them with some of the scholars. This is a great undertaking with H.'s feeble health; indeed, I don't see how it is possible for her to do it. The terms are very high, and a great deal of course will be expected. Ask E. if Mr. Kent's fifteen dollars a quarter didn't include all branches, excepting music? H.'s is twenty. It was the advice of those whom she consulted on the spot. She herself was disposed to be more moderate.” That Helen and Sophia had excellent educations is attested by the few letters written in Latin to them by Henry and included in the volume of Thoreau's “Familiar Letters.” The gay humor and loving sympathy gleam through the vernacular. One paragraph is especially affectionate and poetic;—“When Robin Redbreast brings back the springtime, I trust that you will lay your school duties aside, cast off care, and venture to be gay now and then; roaming with me in the woods, or