Book 3 2. WINTER EVENING Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

winter evening the air was

still as ice and the twigs were snapping

in the cold

a gray light came from the snow but

shadows were gathering in the woods

it was dusk when almanzo trudged up the

last long slope to the farmhouse

he hurried behind royal who hurried

behind mr

course alice walked fast behind eliza

jane in the other sled track

they kept their mouths covered from the

cold and did not say anything

the roof of the tall red-painted house

was

rounded with snow and from all the eaves

hung a fringe of great icicles

the front of the house was dark but a

sled track

went to the big barns and a path had

been shoveled to the side

door and candlelight shone in the

kitchen windows

almanzo did not go into the house he

gave the dinner pail to alice

and he went to the barns with royal

there were three long enormous barns

around three

sides of the square barnyard altogether

they were the finest barns in all that

country

almanzo went first into the horse barn

it faced the house and it was 100 feet

long

the horse’s row of box stalls was in the

middle

at one end was the calf shed and beyond

it the snug

hen house at the other end was the buggy

house

it was so large that two buggies and the

sleigh could be driven into it with

plenty of room to unhitch the horses

the horses went from it into their

stalls without going out again

into the cold the big barn

began at the west end of the horse barn

and made the west side of the barnyard

in the big barn’s middle was the big

barn floor

great doors opened onto it from the

meadows to let loaded hay wagons in

on one side was the great hay bay

50 feet long and 20 feet wide crammed

full of hay to the peak of the roof far

overhead

beyond the big barn floor were 14 stalls

for the cows and oxen

beyond them was the machine shed and

beyond

it was the tool shed there you turned

the corner into the south barn

in it was the feed room then the hog

pins

then the calf pins then the south barn

floor

that was the threshing floor it was even

larger than the big barn floor

and the fanning mill stood there beyond

the south barn floor

was a shed for the young cattle and

beyond it

was the sheepfold that was all of the

south barn

a tight board fence 12 feet high stood

along the east side of the barnyard

the three huge barns and the fence

walled in the snug yard winds howled

and snow beat against them but could not

get in

no matter how stormy the winter there

was hardly ever more than

two feet of snow in the sheltered

barnyard

when almanzo went into these great barns

he always went through the horse barn’s

little door

he loved horses there they stood in

their roomy box stalls

clean and sleek and gleaming brown with

long black manes and tails the wise

sedate workhorses placidly munched hay

the three-year-olds put their noses

together across the bars

they seemed to whisper together then

softly their nostrils whooshed along one

another’s necks

one pretended to bite and they squealed

and whirled and kicked in play

the old horses turned their heads and

looked like grandmothers at the young

ones

but the colts ran about excited on their

gangling legs and stared and wondered

they all knew almanzo their ears pricked

up

and their eyes shone softly when they

saw him

the three-year-olds came eagerly and

thrust their heads out to nuzzle at him

their noses prickled with a few stiff

hairs

were soft as velvet and on their

foreheads the short

fine hair was silky smooth

their necks arched proudly firm

and round and the black manes fell over

them like a heavy fringe

you could run your hand along those firm

curved necks in the warmth under the

mane

but almanzo hardly dared to do it

he was not allowed to touch the

beautiful three-year-olds

he could not go into their stalls not

even to clean them

father would not let him handle the

young horses or the colts

father didn’t trust him yet because

colts and young

unbroken horses are very easily spoiled

a boy who didn’t know any better might

scare a young horse

or tease it or even strike it and that

would ruin it

it would learn to bite and kick and hate

people

and then it would never be a good horse

almanzo did know better he wouldn’t ever

scare or hurt one of those beautiful

colts

he would always be quiet and gentle and

patient

he wouldn’t startle a cult or shout at

it

not even if it stepped on his foot but

father wouldn’t believe this so almanzo

could only look

longingly at the eager three-year-olds

he

just touched their velvety noses and

then he went quickly away from them

and put on his barn frock over his good

school clothes

father had already watered all the stock

and he was beginning to give them their

grain

royal and almanzo took pitchforks and

went from stall to stall

cleaning out the soiled hay underfoot

and spreading fresh hay from the manger

to make

clean beds for the cows and the oxen

and the calves and the sheep

they did not have to make beds for the

hogs because hogs make their own beds

and keep them clean in the south barn

almanzo’s own two little calves were in

one stall

they came crowding each other at the

bars when they saw him

both calves were red and one had a white

spot on his forehead

almanzo had named him star the other was

a bright red all over

and almanzo called him bright

star and bright were young calves not

yet a year old

their little horns had only begun to

grow hard in the soft hair by their ears

almanzo scratched around the little

horns because calves like that

they pushed their moist blunt noses

between the bars

and licked with their rough tongues

almanzo took two carrots from the cow’s

feed box

and snapped little pieces off them and

fed the pieces one by one

to star and bright then he took his

pitchfork again

and climbed into the haymo’s overhead

it was dark there only a little light

came from the pierced ten sides of the

lantern hung in the alleyway below

royal and almanzo were not allowed to

take a lantern into the heymos for fear

of fire

but in a moment they could see in the

dusk

they worked fast pitching hay into the

mangers below

almanzo could hear the crunching of all

the animals eating

the heymos were warm with the warmth of

all the stock below

and the hay smelled dusty sweet

there was a smell too of the horses and

cows

and a woolly smell of the sheep and

before the boys finished filling the

mangers

there was the good smell of warm milk

foaming into father’s milk pail

almanzo took his own little milking

stool and a pail

and sat in blossom stall to milk her

his hands were not yet strong enough to

milk a hard milker

but he could milk blossom and bossy they

were good old cows who gave down their

milk easily

and hardly ever switched a stinging tail

into his eyes

or upset the pail with a hind foot

he sat with the pail between his feet

and milked steadily

left right swish swish the streams of

milk slanted into the pail

while the cows licked up their grain and

crunched their carrots

the barn cats curved their bodies

against the corners of the stall

loudly purring they were sleek and

fat from eating mice every barn cat had

large ears

and a long tail sure signs of a good

mauser

day and night they patrolled the barns

keeping mice and rats from the feed bins

and at milking time they lapped up pans

of warm milk

when almanzo had finished milking he

filled the pans for the cats

his father went into blossom’s stall

with his own pail and stool

and sat down to strip the last richest

drops of milk

from blossom’s udder but almanzo had got

it all

then father went into bossy stall he

came out at once and said

you’re a good milker son almanzo just

turned around and

kicked at the straw on the floor he was

too

pleased to say anything now he could

milk cows by himself

father needn’t strip them after him

pretty soon

he would be milking the hardest milkers

almanzo’s father had pleasant blue eyes

that twinkled

he was a big man with a long soft brown

beard

and soft brown hair his frock of brown

wool

hung to the tops of his tall boots the

two fronts of it were crossed on his

broad chest and belted snug around his

waist

then the skirt of it hung down over his

trousers of good brown full cloth

father was an important man he had a

good farm

he drove the best horses in that country

his word was as good as his bond and

every year he put

money in the bank when father drove into

malone

all the town’s people spoke to him

respectfully

royal came up with his milk pail and the

lantern

he said in a low voice father

big bill richie came to school today

the holes in the ten lantern freckled

everything with little lights and

shadows

almanzo could see the father look solemn

he stroked his beard

and slowly shook his head almanzo waited

anxiously but father only took the

lantern and made a last round of the

barns to see that everything was snug

for the night

then they went to the house the cold

was cruel the night was black and still

and the stars were tiny sparkles in the

sky

almanzo was glad to get into the big

kitchen

warm with fire and candlelight he was

very hungry soft water

from the rain barrel was warming on the

stove

first father then royal then almanzo

took his turn at the wash basin on the

bench by the door

almanzo wiped on the linen roller towel

then standing before the little mirror

on the wall

he parted his wet hair and combed it

smoothly down

the kitchen was full of hoop skirts

balancing and swirling

eliza jane and alice were hurrying to

dish up supper

the salty brown smell of frying ham made

almanzo’s stomach

gnaw inside him he stopped just a minute

in the pantry door

mother was straining the milk at the far

end of the long pantry

her back was toward him the shelves on

both sides were loaded with good things

to eat

big yellow cheeses were stacked there

and large brown cakes of maple sugar

and there were crusty loaves of fresh

baked bread

and four large cakes and one whole shelf

full of pies one of the pies was cut

and a little piece of crust was

temptingly broken off

it would never be missed almanzo

hadn’t even moved yet but eliza jane

cried out

almanzo you stop that mother

mother didn’t turn around she said

leave that be almanzo you’ll spoil your

supper

that was so senseless that it made

almanzo mad

one little bite couldn’t spoil a supper

he was starving

and they wouldn’t let him eat anything

until they had put it on the table

there wasn’t any sense in it but of

course he could not say this to mother

he had to obey her without a word

he stuck out his tongue at eliza jane

she couldn’t do anything

her hands were full then he went quickly

into the dining room

the lamp light was dazzling by the

square

heating stove sat into the wall father

was talking politics to mr course

father’s face was toward the supper

table and almanzo dared not touch

anything on it

there were slabs of tempting cheese

there was a plate of

quivering head cheese there were glass

dishes of

jams and jellies and preserves and a

tall

pitcher of milk and a steaming pan of

baked beans

with a crisp bit of fat pork in the

crumbling brown crust

almanzo looked at them all and something

twisted in his middle

he swallowed and went slowly away

the dining room was pretty

there were green stripes and rows of

tiny red flowers on the chocolate brown

wallpaper

and mother had woven the red carpet to

match

she had dyed the rags green and

chocolate brown

and woven them in stripes with a tiny

stripe of red and white rags twisted

together between them

the tall corner cupboards were full of

fascinating things

seashells and petrified wood

and curious rocks and books

and over the center table hung an air

castle

alice had made it of clean yellow wheat

straws

set together aerially with bits of

bright colored cloth at the corners

it swayed and quivered in the slightest

breath of air

and the lamp light ran gleaming along

the golden straw

but to almanzo the most beautiful sight

was his mother bringing in the big

willow wear platter full of sizzling ham

mother was short and plump and pretty

her eyes were blue and her brown hair

was like a bird’s smooth wings

a row of little red buttons ran down the

front of her dress of wine-colored wool

from her flat white linen collar to the

white apron tied around her waist

her big sleeves hung like large red

bells at either end of the blue platter

she came through the doorway with a

little pause and a tug

because her hoop skirts were wider than

the door

the smell of the ham was almost more

than almanzo could bear

mother set the platter on the table she

looked to see that everything was ready

and the table

properly set she took off her apron

and hung it in the kitchen she waited

until father had finished what he was

saying to mr course

but at last she said james

supper is ready it seemed a long time

before they were all in their places

father said at the head of the table

mother at the foot

then they must all bow their heads while

father asked god to bless the food

after that there was a little pause

before father unfolded his napkin

and tucked it in the neck band of his

frock

he began to fill the plates first he

filled mr coarse’s plate

then mothers then royals and eliza james

and alice’s

then at last he filled almanzo’s plate

thank you almanzo said those were the

only words he was allowed to speak at

table

children must be seen and not heard

father and mother and mr course could

talk but royal

and eliza jane and alice and almanzo

must not say a word almanzo ate the

sweet mellow baked beans

he ate the bit of salt pork that melted

like cream in his

mouth he ate mealy boiled potatoes with

brown ham gravy

he ate the ham he bit deep into velvety

bread

spread with sleek butter and he ate the

crisp golden crust

he demolished a tall heap of pale mashed

turnips

and a hill of stewed yellow pumpkin

then he sighed and tucked his napkin

deeper into the neckband of his red

waist

and he ate plum preserves and strawberry

jam

and grape jelly and spiced watermelon

rind pickles

he felt very comfortable inside

slowly he ate a large piece of pumpkin

pie

he heard father say to mr course

the hard scrabble boys came to school

today royal tells me

yes mr cory said

i hear they’re saying they’ll throw you

out mr course said

i guess they’ll be trying it father blew

on the tea and a saucer

he tasted it then drained the saucer and

poured a little more tea into it

they have driven out two teachers he

said

last year they hurt jonas lane so bad he

died of it later

i know mr coors said

jonas lane and i went to school together

he was my friend father did not say any

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