Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/28

the woods and pointed out to me every spot visited and described by his friend. Where the hut stood is a little pile of stones, and a sign, Site of Thoreau s Hut, and a few steps beyond is the pond with thickly-wooded shores,—everything exquisitely peaceful and beautiful in the after noon light, and not a sound to be heard except the crickets or the ’z-ing’ of the locusts which Thoreau has described. Farther on he pointed out to me, in the distant landscape, a low roof, the only one visible, which was the roof of Thoreau’s birthplace. He had been over there many times, he said, since he lost Mr. Thoreau, but had never gone in, he was afraid it might look lonely! But he had often sat on a rock in front of the house and looked at it." On parting from his young friend, Mr. Channing gave her a package, which proved to be a copy of his own book on Thoreau, and the pocket compass which Thoreau carried to the Maine woods and on all his excursions. Before leaving the Emersons she received the proof-sheets of her drama of "The Spagnoletto," which was being printed for private circulation. She showed them to Mr. Emerson, who had expressed a wish to see them, and, after reading them, he gave them back to her with the comment that they were " good." She playfully asked him if he would not give her a bigger word to take home to the family. He laughed, and said he did not know of any; but