Sketches from Concord and Appledore | Page 5

a
lively, spirited manner; another more quiet and composed, with an
ivory-white complexion, and large, dreamy, tender-looking eyes; and
the third was a light brunette with an oval face and regular features,
reserved and dignified. Slightly idealized, with these fine qualities, they
might have served for a picture of the Three Graces. They had the
advantage of pretty manners, and being fast friends and of a single
mind, made a strong impression wherever they went. Though the eldest
was not more than seventeen, the Bigelow girls, as they were called
from the blacksmith's family name, took the lead in Concord social life
for the time being, and gave a tone to it. Their influence helped to make
the boys more manly and the other girls more respectful.
Such a trio could not long escape the notice of the Harvard students, a
number of whom made their acquaintance through graduates of the
school; and one of them, inspired with admiration, composed a song
which was quite popular at the time, beginning thus:
"There was an old lady in Concord did dwell, Who had but three
boarders, and each one a belle; Grace, Jennie and Maggie, more
priceless than pearls; Then here's to the health of the Bigelow girls."
Truly the days of their youth were the days of their glory; but it is not
so for everyone. In fact many of us never obtain any glory. And who is
that plainly dressed girl with the meekly determined look who goes
back and forth so quietly and regularly? If you speak to her she will
smile, but her voice is not often heard. It is Miss Evans' Mary Garth, or
the prototype of Louisa Alcott's "Old Fashioned Girl." She is the best
scholar in school, and already has important plans in her mind for the
future.
Mr. Alcott would sometimes come in on a Wednesday afternoon, listen
to the declamations and afterwards give his young friends a

conversation on the faculties of the human mind. He was an agreeable
speaker, and knew how to hold the attention of his youthful audience.
On one of these occasions while he was discoursing on the higher
mental faculties which are not possessed by the lower animals, a small
boy suddenly called out from his corner, "Dogs have a conscience; I've
seen it." The whole school roared at this, and it nearly disconcerted Mr.
Alcott; but he quickly recovered himself, and explained that the
apprehension of punishment often supplies the place of a conscience in
dogs, as well as in boys and men; and a highly interesting discussion
ensued on this subject. Such a method of instruction was highly
refreshing after the dry routine in Latin and mathematics.
There was a yearly nutting excursion in October to Esterbrook farm
where there were tall chestnut trees, flying squirrels and plenty of wood
for a bonfire. May-day was usually celebrated at Conantum,--a
pine-clad hill on the south side of Fairhaven Bay, opposite the cliffs. As
soon as winter came committees were chosen to provide dancing or
theatricals for every Friday evening; but the climax of pleasure was a
half-holiday for a skating carnival on Walden Pond,--where Thoreau
was sure to be present, and also a Miss Caroline Moore, daughter of the
deputy sheriff, and afterwards widely known in Europe and America as
the skatorial queen.
"Three cheers for the Giver of this glorious afternoon," and then the
caps would go up in the air, and the rocks and hills echo the hoarse
shouts of the boys. I can hear now the jingling of the skates, the
crackling of the snow and the merry laughter as we came from under
the pine trees of Walden into the keen starlight, with the great comet
streaming in front of us.
On the first of May, 1859, Emerson wrote in a letter to Carlyle: "My
boy divides his time between Cicero and cricket,--and will go to
college next year. Sam Ward and I tickled each other the other day, in
looking over a very good company of young people, by finding in the
newcomers a marked improvement on their parents."
There are those who still remember seeing the two distinguished men
on the Concord playground, and wondering what they thought of it. Mr.
Ward came to place his boy under Mr. Sanborn's care; and a
remarkable boy he proved to be,--equally generous, fearless and
high-minded. Twenty years later, that same boy, looking out of his

New York office window, saw his former guide and preceptor striding
through Wall Street. He rushed down the stairs, and out upon the
sidewalk, but the friend of his youth had disappeared and was nowhere
to be found.
With two or three exceptions, Mr. Sanborn's young men held him in
high regard, and when, in 1860, the United States