264 
WALDEN. 
over some whiter and cleaner sand for this purpose from 
the opposite shore of the pond in a boat, a sort of con¬ 
veyance which would have tempted me to go much far¬ 
ther if necessary. My house had in the mean while 
been shingled down to the ground on every side. In 
lathing I was pleased to be able to send home each nail 
with a single blow of the hammer, and it was my ambi¬ 
tion to transfer the plaster from the board to the wall 
neatly and rapidly. I remembered the story of a con¬ 
ceited fellow, who, in fine clothes, was wont to lounge 
about the village once, giving advice to workmen. Ven¬ 
turing one day to substitute deeds for words, he turned 
up his cuffs, seized a plasterer’s board, and having load¬ 
ed his trowel without mishap, with a complacent look 
toward the lathing overhead, made a bold gesture thith¬ 
erward ; and straightway, to his complete discomfiture, 
received the whole contents in his ruffled bosom. I ad¬ 
mired anew the economy and convenience of plastering, 
which so effectually shuts out the cold and takes a hand¬ 
some finish, and I learned the various casualties to 
which the plasterer is liable. I was surprised to see 
how thirsty the bricks were which drank up all the 
moisture in my plaster before I had smoothed it, and 
how many pailfuls of water it takes to christen a new 
hearth. I had the previous winter made a small quan¬ 
tity of lime by burning the shells of the Unio jluviatilis , 
which our river affords, for the sake of the experiment; 
so that I knew where my materials came from. I might 
have got good limestone within a mile or two and burned 
it myself, if I had cared to do so. 
The pond had in the mean while skimmed over in the 
