His wares are wisdom and love and truth.
But now, as then, few purchase or pause,
For he cannot learn the tricks of trade;
Little silver he wins, but that which time
Is sprinkling thick on his meek old head.

But there'll come a day when the busy world,
Grown sick with its folly and pride,
Will remember the mild-faced peddler then
Whom it rudely had set aside;
Will remember the wares he offered it once
And will seek to find him again,
Eager to purchase truth, wisdom, and love,
But, oh, it will seek him in vain.

It will find but his footsteps left behind
Along the byways of life,
Where he patiently walked, striving the while
To quiet its tumult and strife.
But the peddling pilgrim has laid down his pack
And gone with his earnings away;
How small will they seem, remembering the debt
Which the world too late would repay.

God bless the dear head! and crown it with years
Untroubled and calmly serene;
That the autumn of life more golden may be
For the heats and the storms that have been.
My heritage none can ever dispute,
My fortune will bring neither strife nor care;
'Tis an honest name, 'tis a beautiful life,
And the silver lock of my father's hair.

[Illustration: _PICTURE OF "FRUITLANDS"_

_The old house where Bronson Alcott and the English Mystics tried to
found a community somewhat after the order of Brook Farm in 1843.
Emerson backed the scheme. The house is open to the public Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday afternoons during the summer._]

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote A: This was true of him in his early youth.]

TO PAPA

In high Olympus' sacred shade
A gift Minerva wrought
For her beloved philosopher
Immersed in deepest thought.

A shield to guard his aged breast
With its enchanted mesh
When he his nectar and ambrosia took
To strengthen and refresh.

Long may he live to use the life
The hidden goddess gave,
To keep unspotted to the end
The gentle, just, and brave.

December, 1887. LOUISA M. ALCOTT.

Before closing, another unpublished poem is added to the foregoing ones.
It was written by Louise Chandler Moulton upon hearing of the death of
Louisa Alcott, and is in the Fruitlands collection.

_Louisa M. Alcott_

IN MEMORIAM

As the wind at play with a spark
Of fire that glows through the night;
A