Book 2 11. INDIANS IN THE HOUSE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

indians in the house

early one morning paw took his gun and

went hunting

he had meant to make the bedstead that

day he brought in the slabs when moss

said she had no meat for dinner

so he stood the slabs against the wall

and took down his gun

jack wanted to go hunting too his eyes

begged pau to take him and wines came up

from his chest and quivered in his

throat till laura almost cried with him

but paul chained him to the stable no

jack

paul said you must stay here and guard

the place

then he said to mary and laura don’t let

him loose girls

poor jack lay down it was a disgrace to

be chained and he felt it deeply

he turned his head from paw and would

not watch him going away with the gun on

his shoulder

paul went farther and farther away till

the prairie swallowed him up and he was

gone lara tried to comfort jack but he

would not be comforted

the more he thought about the chain the

worse he felt

laura tried to cheer him up to frisk and

play but he only grew more sullen

both mary and laura felt they could not

leave jack while he was so unhappy

so all that morning they stayed by the

stable

they stroked jack’s smooth brindled head

and scratched around his ears and told

him how

sorry they were that he must be chained

he lapped their hands a little bit but

he was very sad and angry

his head was on laura’s knee and she was

talking to him

when suddenly he stood up and growled

a fierce deep growl the hair on his neck

stood straight up and his eyes glared

red

laura was frightened jack had never

growled at her before

then she looked over her shoulder where

jack was looking

and she saw two naked wild men coming

one behind the other on the indian trail

mary look she cried mary looked and saw

them too they were tall

thin fierce looking men their skin was

brownish red

their heads seemed to go up to a peak

and the peak was a tuft of hair that

stood straight up and

ended in feathers their eyes were black

and still and glittering like snake’s

eyes

they came closer and closer

then they went out of sight on the other

side of the house

laura’s head turned and so did mary’s

and they looked at the place where those

terrible men would appear when they came

past the house

indians mary whispered laura was shivery

there was a queer feeling in her middle

and the bones in her legs felt weak

she wanted to sit down but she stood and

looked and waited for those indians to

come out from behind the house

the indians did not do that all this

time jack had been growling

now he stopped growling and was lunging

against the chain

his eyes were red and his lips curled

back and all the hair on his back was

bristling

he bounded and bounded clear off the

ground trying to get loose from the

chain

laura was glad that that chain kept him

right there with her

jack’s here she whispered to mary jack

won’t let them hurt us

we’ll be safe if we stay close to jack

they’re in the house mary whispered

they’re in the house with ma and carrie

then laura began to shake all over

she knew she must do something she did

not know what those indians were doing

to ma and baby carrie

there was no sound at all from the house

oh what are they doing to ma she

screamed in a whisper

oh i don’t know mary whispered

i’m going to let jack loose laura

whispered hoarsely

jack will kill them paw said not to

mary answered they were too scared to

speak out loud

they put their heads together and

watched the house and whispered

he didn’t know indians would come laura

said

he said not to let jack loose mary was

almost crying

laura thought of little baby carrie and

ma shutting the house with those indians

she said i’m going in to help ma

she ran two steps and walked a step

then she turned and flew back to jack

she clutched him wildly and hung onto

his strong

panting neck jack wouldn’t let anything

hurt her

we mustn’t leave ma in there alone mary

whispered

she stood still and trembled mary never

could move when she was frightened

laura hid her face against jack and held

onto him tightly

then she made her arms let go her hands

balled into fists and her eyes shut

tight and she

ran toward the house as fast as she

could run

she stumbled and fell down and her eyes

popped open

she was up again and running before she

could think

mary was close behind her they came to

the door

it was open and they slipped into the

house without a sound

the naked wild men stood by the

fireplace

maul was bending over the fire cooking

something

carrie clung to ma’s skirts with both

hands and her head was hidden in the

folds

laura ran toward ma but just as she

reached the hearth she smelled a

horribly bad smell and she looked up at

the indians

quick as a flash she ducked behind the

long narrow slab that leaned against the

wall

the slab was just wide enough to cover

both her eyes

if she held her head perfectly still and

pressed her nose against the slab

she couldn’t see the indians and she

felt safer

but she couldn’t help moving her head

just a little so that one eye peeped out

and she could see the wild men first she

saw their leather moccasins

then their stringy bare red brown legs

all the way up

around their waists each of the indians

wore a leather thong

and the furry skin of a small animal

hung down in front

the fur was striped black and white

and now laura knew what made that smell

the skins were fresh

skunk skins a knife like paws hunting

knife

and a hatchet like paws hatchet were

stuck into each skunk skin

the indians ribs made little ridges up

their bare sides

their arms were folded on their chests

at last laura looked again at their

faces

and she dodged quickly behind the slab

their faces were bold and fierce and

terrible

their black eyes glittered high on their

foreheads

and above their ears where hair grows

these wild men

had no hair but on top of their heads

a tuft of hair stood straight up

it was wound around with string and

feathers were stuck in it

when laura peeked out from behind the

slab again

both indians were looking straight at

her her heart

jumped into her throat and choked her

with its pounding

two black eyes glittered down into her

eyes

the indian did not move not one muscle

of his face

moved only his eyes shone and sparkled

at her

laura didn’t move either she didn’t even

breathe

the indian made two short harsh sounds

in his throat

the other indian made one sound like

laura hit her eyes behind the slab again

she heard ma take the cover off the bake

oven

she heard the indians squat down on the

hearth

after a while she heard them eating

laura peeked and hid and peaked again

while the indians ate the cornbread that

ma had baked

they ate every morsel of it and even

picked up the crumbs from the hearth

ma stood and watched them and stroked

baby carrie’s head

mary stood close behind ma and held onto

her sleeve

faintly laura heard jack’s chain

rattling jack was still trying to get

loose

when every crumb of the cornbread was

gone the indians rose up

the skunk smell was stronger when they

moved

one of them made harsh sounds in his

throat again

ma looked at him with big eyes she did

not say anything

the indian turned around the other

indian turned two

and they walked across the floor and out

through the door

their feet made no sound at all

ma sighed a long long sigh

she hugged laura tight in one arm and

mary tightened the other arm and through

the window

they watched those indians going away

one behind the other

on the dim trail toward the west

then ma sat down on the bed and hugged

laura and mary tighter

and trembled she looked sick

do you feel sick more mary asked her

no said ma i’m just thankful they’re

gone

laura wrinkled her nose and said they

smell

awful that was the skunk skins they wore

ma said then they told her how they’d

left jack and had come into the house

because they were afraid the indians

would hurt her in baby carrie

ma said they were her brave little girls

now we must get dinner she said paul

will be here soon and we must have

dinner ready for him

mary bring me some wood laura you may

set the table

ma rolled up her sleeves and washed her

hands and mixed cornbread while mary

brought the wood

and laura set the table she set a tin

plate and a knife and fork and a cup for

paw

and the same for more with carrie’s

little tin cup beside mars

and she set tin plates and knives and

forks for her and mary

but only there one cup between the

plates

mom made the cornmeal and water into two

thin loaves

each shaped in a half circle she laid

the loaves with their straight sides

together in the bake oven

and she pressed her hand flat on top of

each loaf

pau always said he did not ask any other

sweetening

when ma put the prince of her hands on

the loaves

laura had hardly set the table when paul

was there

he left a big rabbit and two prairie

hens outside the door

and stepped in and laid his gun on its

pegs

laura and mary ran and clutched him both

talking at once

what’s all this what’s all this he said

rumpling their hair

indians so you’ve seen indians at last

have you laura

i notice they have a camp in a little

valley west of here

did indians come to the house caroline

yes charles two of them ma said

i’m sorry but they took all your tobacco

and they ate a lot of cornbread

they pointed to the cornmeal and made

signs for me to cook some

i was afraid not to oh charles i was

afraid

you did the right thing part told her we

don’t want to make enemies of any

indians

then he said what a smell

they wore fresh skunk skins said ma

and that was all they wore must have

been thick while they were here

paul said it was charles

we were short of cornmeal too

oh well we have enough to hold out a

while yet

and our meat’s running all over the

country don’t worry caroline

but they took all your tobacco never

mind

paul said i’ll get along without tobacco

till

i can make that trip to independence the

main thing is to be on good terms with

the indians

we don’t want to wake up some night with

a band of the screeching depth

he stopped laura dreadfully wanted to

know

what he had been going to say but ma’s

lips were pressed together and she shook

a little shake of her head at paw

come on mary and laura paul said we’ll

skin that rabbit

and dress the prairie hens while that

cornbread bakes

hurry i’m hungry as a wolf

they sat on the wood pile in the wind

and sunshine

and watched paul work with his hunting

knife

the big rabbit was shot through the eye

and the prairie hen’s heads were shot

clean away

they never knew what hit him paw said

laura held the edge of the rabbit’s skin

while paw’s king knife ripped it off the

rabbit meat

i’ll salt this skin and peg it out on

the house wall to dry he said

it will make a warm fur cat for some

little girl to wear next winter

but laura could not forget the indians

she said to paw that if they had turned

jack loose

he would have eaten those indians right

up

paul laid down the knife did you girls

even

think of turning jack loose he asked in

a dreadful voice

laura’s head bowed down and she

whispered

yes paw after i told you not to

pause said in a more dreadful voice

laura couldn’t speak but mary choked

yes pot for a moment paul was silent

he sighed a long sigh like maw’s sigh

after the indians went away

after this he said in a terrible voice

you girls remember always to do as

you’re told

don’t you even think of disobeying me do

you hear

yes paw laura and mary whispered

do you know what would have happened if

you had turned jack loose

paw asked no paw

they whispered he would have bitten

those indians said paw

then there would have been trouble bad

trouble

do you understand yes pa

they said but they did not understand

would they have killed jack laura asked

yes and that’s not all

you girls remember this you do as you’re

told no matter

what happens yes paw

laura said and mary said yes paw

they were glad they had not turned jack

loose

do as you’re told said paw and no harm

will come to you