Book 3 6. FILLING THE ICEHOUSE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

[Music]

filling the ice house

the weather was so cold that the snow

was like

sand underfoot a little water thrown

into the air

came down as tiny balls of ice

even on the south side of the house at

noon the snow did not soften

this was perfect weather for cutting ice

because when the blocks were lifted from

the pond

no water would drip it would instantly

freeze

the sun was rising and all the eastern

slopes of the snow drifts were rosy in

its light when almanzo

snuggled under the fur robes between

father and royal

in the big bobsled and they set out to

the pond

on trout river the horses trotted

briskly

shaking jingles from their bells their

breath

steamed from their nostrils and the

bobsled’s runners squeaked on the hard

snow

the cold air crinkled inside almanzo’s

tingling nose

but every minute the sun shone more

brightly striking tiny glitters of red

and green light from the snow

and all through the woods there were

sparkles of sharp white lights and

icicles

it was a mile to the pond and the woods

and once father got out to put his hands

over the horse’s noses

their breaths had frozen over their

nostrils making it hard for them to

breathe

father’s hands melted the frost and they

went on briskly

french joe and lazy john were waiting on

the pond when the bobsled drove up

they were frenchmen who lived in little

log houses in the woods

they had no farms they hunted and

trapped

and fished they sang and joked and

danced

and they drank red wine instead of cider

when father needed a hired man they

worked for him

and he paid them with salt pork from the

barrels down cellar

they stood on the snowy pond in their

tall boots and plaid jackets and fur

caps with fur earmuffs

and the frost of their breaths was on

their long mustaches

each had an ax on his shoulder and they

carried cross-cut saws

a cross-cut saw has a long narrow blade

with wooden handles at the ends two men

must pull it back and forth across the

edge of whatever they want to saw in two

but they could not saw ice that way

because the ice was solid underfoot

like a floor it had no edge to saw a

cross

when father saw them he laughed and

called out

you flipped that penny yet everybody

laughed but almanzo

he did not know the joke so french joe

told him

once two irishmen were sent out to saw

ice with a cross-cut saw

they had never sought ice before they

looked at the ice

and they looked at the saw till at last

pat took a penny out of his pocket and

he says

says he now jamie be fair

heads or tails who goes below

then almanzo left to think of anyone

going down into the dark

cold water under the ice to pull one end

of the cross-cut saw

it was funny that there were people who

didn’t know how to saw ice

he drudged with the others across the

ice to the middle of the pond

a sharp wind blew there driving wisps of

snow before it

above the deep water the ice was smooth

and dark swept almost bare of snow

almanzo watched while joe and john

chopped a big

three cornered hole in it they lifted

out the broken pieces of ice

and carried them away leaving the hole

full of open water

she is about 20 inches thick lazy john

said

then saw the ice 20 inches said father

lazy john and french joe knelt at the

edge of the hole

they lowered their cross-cut saws into

the water

and began to saw nobody pulled the ends

of the saws under the water

side by side they saw two straight

cracks through the ice

20 inches apart and 20 feet long

then with the axe john broke the ice

across

and a slab 20 inches wide 20 inches

thick

and 20 feet long rose a little and

floated free

with a pole john pushed the slab toward

the three cornered hole

and as the end was thrust out crackling

the thin ice freezing on the water

joe sawed off 20 inch lengths of it

father picked up the cubes with the big

iron ice tongs

and loaded them onto the bobsleds

almanzo ran to the edge of the hole

watching the saw

suddenly right on the very edge he

slipped

he felt himself falling headlong into

the dark water

his hands couldn’t catch hold of

anything he knew he would sink

and be drawn under the solid ice the

swift current would pull him under the

ice where nobody could find him

he’d drown held down by the ice in the

dark

french joe grabbed him just in time he

heard a shout

and felt a rough hand jerk him by one

leg he felt a terrific

crash and then he was lying on his

stomach

on the good solid ice he got up on his

feet

father was coming running father stood

over him

big and terrible you ought to have the

worst whipping of your life father said

yes father almanzo whispered

he knew it he knew he should have been

more careful

a boy nine years old is too big to do

foolish things because he doesn’t stop

to think

almanzo knew that and felt ashamed

he shrank up small inside his clothes

and his legs shivered

afraid of the whipping father’s

whippings hurt

but he knew he deserved to be whipped

the whip was on the bobsled

i won’t thresh you this time father

decided

but see to it you stay away from that

edge

yes father almanzo whispered

he went away from the hole and did not

go near it again

father finished loading the bobsled then

he spread the lap robes on top of the

ice

and almanzo rode on them with father and

royal back to the ice house near the

barns

the ice house was built of boards with

wide

cracks between it was set high from the

ground

on wooden blocks and looked like a big

cage

only the floor and the roof were solid

on the floor was a huge mound of sawdust

which father had hauled from the lumber

mill

with a shovel father spread the sawdust

three inches thick on the floor

on this he laid the cubes of ice three

inches apart

then he drove back to the pond and

almanzo went to work with royal in the

ice house

they filled every crack between the

cubes

with sawdust and tamped it down tightly

with sticks

then they shoveled the whole mound of

sawdust

on top of the ice in a corner and where

it had been

they covered the floor with cubes of ice

and packed them

in sawdust then they covered it all with

sawdust

three inches thick they worked as fast

as they could but before they finished

father came with another load of ice he

laid down another layer of ice cubes

three inches apart

and drove away leaving them to fill

every crevice

tightly with sawdust and spread sawdust

over the top

and shove the rest of the mound of

sawdust up again

they worked so hard that the exercise

kept them warm

but long before noon almanzo was

hungrier than

wolves he couldn’t stop work long enough

to run into the house for a donut

all of his middle was hollow with

annoying inside it

he knelt on the ice pushing sawdust into

the cracks with his mitten hand

and pounding it down with a stick as

fast as he could

and he asked royal what would you like

best to eat they talked about spare ribs

and turkey with dressing and baked beans

and crackling cornbread and other good

things

but almanzo said that what he liked most

in the world

was fried apples and onions

when at last they went into dinner there

on the table

was a big dish of the mother knew what

he liked best and she had cooked it for

him

almanzo ate four large helpings of

apples and onions fried together

he ate roast beef and brown gravy and

mashed potatoes

and creamed carrots and boiled turnips

and countless slices of buttered bread

with crabapple jelly

it takes a great deal to feed a growing

boy mother said

and she put a thick slice of bird’s nest

pudding on his bear plate

and handed him the pitcher of sweetened

cream

speckled with nutmeg almanzo poured the

heavy cream over the apples nested in

the fluffy crust

the syrupy brown juice curled up around

the edges of the cream

almanzo took up his spoon and ate

every bit then until chore time he and

royal worked in the ice house

all next day they worked and all the

next day

just at dusk on the third day father

helped them spread the last

layer of sawdust over the topmost cubes

of ice

in the peak of the ice house roof

and that job was done

buried in sawdust the blocks of ice

would not melt in the hottest summer

weather

one at a time they would be dug out and

mother would make ice cream

and lemonade and cold eggnog