Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/99

Rh Thoreaus, and then, in disgust, resigned his position. One of the pupils, thus favored, still lives in Concord, near the scene of action, the old brick schoolhouse, now Free Mason's Hall.

There seem to have been two possible opportunities for the graduate, in quite opposite geographical sections, during the spring of 1838. A letter from President Quincy suggested a school in Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Jarvis, a Louisville physician and friend of the Thoreaus, encouraged both John and Henry to come south for schools and they planned such a trip, as some letters testify. The arrangements did not succeed, however, and the second attempt to find a school in Maine also proved futile. Thoreau did not show entire complacency during this season of vexatious waiting. Is there any greater trial for a youth all eager to test his powers against the world? His friend, Henry Vose, then in New York, wrote,—"You envy my happy situation, and mourn over your fate, which compels you to loiter about Concord and grub among clam-shells." In recompense, however, the letter refers to "other sources of enjoyment, among them the fairer portion of the community in Concord." Henry, like his brother and sisters, had part in the social life of the town during these years, walking, boating, and enjoying