Book 2 12. FRESH WATER TO DRINK Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

fresh water to drink

paw had made the bedstead he had

smoothed the oak slabs till there was

not a splinter on them

then he pegged them firmly together four

slabs made a box to hold the straw tick

across the bottom of it paw stretched a

rope zigzagged from side to side and

pulled it tight

one end of the bedstead pop pegged

solidly to the wall

in a corner of the house only one corner

of the bed was not against a wall

at this corner paw set up a tall slab

he pegged it to the bedstead as high up

as he could reach

he pegged two strips of oak to the walls

and to the tall slab

then he climbed up on them and pegged

the top of the tall slab

solidly to a rafter and on the strips of

oak he laid a shelf above the bed

there you are caroline he said

i can’t wait to see it made up said ma

help me bring in the straw tick she had

filled the straw tick that morning

there was no straw on the high prairie

so she had filled it with dry

clean dead grass it was hot from the

sunshine and it had a grassy sweet smell

paw helped to bring it into the house

and lay it in the bedstead

she tucked the sheets in and spread her

prettiest patchwork quilt over them

at the head of the bed she set up the

goose feather pillows

and spread the pillow shams against them

on each white pillow sham

two little birds were outlined with red

thread

then paw and ma and laura and mary stood

and looked at the bed

it was a very nice bed the zigzag

rope was softer than the floor to sleep

on the straw tick was plump with the

sweet smelling grass

the quilt lay smooth and the pretty

pillow sham

stood up crisply the shelf was a good

place to store things

the whole house had quite an air with

such a bed in it

that night when ma went to bed she

settled into the crackling straw tick

and said to paw

i declare i’m so comfortable it’s almost

sinful

mary and laura still slept on the floor

but paul would make a little bed for

them as soon as he could

he had made the big bed and he had made

a stout cupboard

and padlocked it so the indians could

not take all the cornmeal if they came

again now he had only to dig a well

and then he would make that trip to town

he must dig the well first so that mark

could have water while he was gone

next morning he marked a large circle in

the grass near the corner of the house

with his spade he cut the sod inside the

circle

and lifted it up in large pieces then he

began to shovel out the earth

digging himself deeper and deeper down

mary and laura must not go near the well

while paul was digging

even when they couldn’t see his head

anymore shovelfuls of earth came

flying up at last the spade flew up and

fell in the grass

then pod jumped his hands cut hold of

the sod then one elbow gripped it

and then the other elbow and with a

heave paw came

rolling out i can’t throw the dirt out

from any deeper

he said he had to have help now

so he took his gun and rode away on

paddy

when he came back he brought a plump

rabbit

and he had traded work with mr scott mr

scott would help him dig this well

and then he would help dig mr scott’s

well

ma and laura and mary had not seen mr

and mrs scott

their house was hidden somewhere in a

little valley on the prairie

laura had seen the smoke rising up from

it and that was all

at sun up next morning mr scott came

he was short and stout his hair was

bleached by the sun

and his skin was bright red and scaly he

did not tan

he peeled it’s this blasted sun and wind

he said beg your pardon man but it’s

enough to make a saint use strong

language i might as well be a snake the

way i keep on shedding my skin in this

country

laura liked him every morning as soon as

the dishes were washed and the beds made

she ran out to watch mr scott and paul

working at the well

the sunshine was blistering even the

winds were hot

and the prairie grasses were turning

yellow

mary preferred to stay in the house and

sew on her patchwork quilt

but laura liked the fierce light and the

sun and the wind and she couldn’t stay

away from the well

but she was not allowed to go near its

edge

paw and mr scott had made a stout

windless

it stood over the well and two buckets

hung from it on the ends of a rope

when the windlass was turned one bucket

went down into the well

and the other bucket came up in the

morning

mr scott slid down the rope and dug

he filled the buckets with earth almost

as fast as paw could haul them up and

empty them

after dinner paw slid down the rope into

the well

and mr scott hauled up the buckets

every morning before paul would let mr

scott go down the rope

he set a candle in a bucket and lighted

it

and lowered it to the bottom once laura

peeped over the edge

and she saw the candle brightly burning

far down

in the dark hole in the ground then paul

would say

seems to be all right and he would pull

up the bucket and blow out the candle

well that’s all foolishness ingalls mr

scott said

the well was all right yesterday you

never can tell

paul replied better be safe than sorry

laura did not know what danger paw was

looking for by that candlelight

she did not ask because paul and mr

scott were busy

she meant to ask later but she forgot

one morning mr scott came while paul was

eating breakfast

they heard him shout hi ingles it’s sun

up let’s go

paw drank his coffee and went out the

windlass began to creak

and pau began to whistle laura and mary

were washing the dishes and ma

was making the big bed when paw’s

whistling stopped

they heard him say scott

he shouted scott scott

then he called caroline come quick

ma ran out of the house laura ran after

her

scots fainted or something down there

paul said i’ve got to go down after him

did you send down the candle ma asked no

i thought he had i asked him if it was

all right and he said it was

paul cut the empty bucket off the rope

and tied the rope firmly to the windlass

charles you can’t you mustn’t ma said

caroline i’ve got to you can’t oh

charles no i’ll make it all right i

won’t breathe till i get out we can’t

let him die down there

moss said fiercely laura keep back

so laura kept back she stood against the

house and shivered

no no charles i can’t let you ma said

get on paddy and go for help there isn’t

time charles

if i can’t pull you up if you kill over

down there and i can’t pull you up

caroline i’ve got to pause said he swung

into the well

his head slid out of sight down the rope

mark crouched and shaded her eyes

staring down into the well

all over the prairie meadowlarks were

rising singing flying

straight up into the sky the wind was

blowing warmer

but laura was cold

suddenly ma jumped up and sees the

handle of the windlass

she tugged at it with all her might the

rope strained

and the windlass creaked laura thought

that paw had killed over down in the

dark bottom of the well

and mark couldn’t pull him up but the

windlass turned a little

and then a little more paw’s hand came

up

holding to the rope his other hand

reached above it and took hold of the

rope

then paul’s head came up his arm held on

to the windlass

then somehow he got to the ground and

sat there

the windlass whirled around and there

was a thud

deep down in the well paul struggled to

get up and moss said

sit still charles laura get some water

quick

laura ran she came hurrying back lugging

the pail of water

paw and ma were both turning the

windlass the rope slowly wound itself

up and the bucket came up out of the

well and

tied to the bucket and the rope was mr

scott

his arms and his legs and his head hung

and wobbled

his mouth was partly open and his eyes

half

shut paul tugged him onto the grass

paul rolled him over and he flopped

where he was rolled

paul felt his wrist and listened at his

chest and then paul lay down beside him

he’s breathing paul said he’ll be all

right

in the air i’m all right caroline and

plum tuckered out is all

well ma scolded i should think you would

be

of all the senseless performances my

goodness gracious scaring her body to

death awful want of a little reasonable

care my goodness i

she covered her face with her apron and

burst out crying

that was a terrible day i don’t want

a well mossab it isn’t worth it i won’t

have you running such risks

mr scott had breathed a kind of gas that

stays deep in the ground

it stays at the bottom of wells because

it’s heavier than air

it cannot be seen or smelled but no one

can breathe it very long

and live paw had gone down into that gas

to tie mr scott to the rope

so that he could be pulled up and out of

the gas

when mr scott was able he went home

before he went he said to paul you were

right about that candle business ingalls

i thought it was all foolishness and i

would not bother with it

but i found out my mistake

well said paw where a light can’t live i

know i can’t

and i like to be safe when i can be

but all’s well that ends well

paul rested a while he had breathed a

little of the gas and he felt like

resting

but that afternoon he raveled a thread

from a toe sack

and he took a little powder from his

powder horn

he tied the powder in a piece of cloth

with one end of the toe string in the

powder

come along laura he said and i’ll show

you something

they went to the well paul lighted the

end of the string

and waited till the spark was crawling

quickly along it

then he dropped the little bundle into

the well

in a minute they heard a muffled bang

and a puff of smoke came out of the well

that will bring the gas paw said

when the smoke was all gone he let laura

light the candle

and stand beside him while he let it

down

all the way down in the dark hole the

little candle kept on burning like a

star

so next day paul and mr scott went on

digging the well

but they always sent the candle down

every morning

there began to be a little water in the

well but it was not enough

the buckets came up full of mud and paul

and mr scott worked every day

in deeper mud in the mornings when the

candle went down

it lighted oozing wet walls and

candlelight sparkled in rings over the

water when the bucket struck bottom

paw stood knee-deep in water and bailed

out bucket fulls before he could begin

digging in the mud

one day when he was digging a loud shout

came

echoing up ma ran out of the house and

laura ran to the well

pull scott pull pau yelled

a swishing gurgling sound echoed down

there

mr scott turned the windlass as fast as

he could

and paul came up climbing hand over hand

up the rope

i’m blamed if that’s not quicksand paul

gasped as he stepped onto the ground

muddy and dripping i was pushing down

hard on the spade

when all of a sudden it went down the

whole length of the handle and water

came pouring up

all around me a good six feet of this

rope’s wet

mr scott said winding it up the bucket

was

full of water you showed sense in

getting out of that hand over hand

ingles

that water came up faster than i could

pull you out

then mr scott slapped his thigh and

shouted i’m

blasted if you didn’t bring up the spade

sure enough paw had saved his spade

in a little while the well was almost

full of water

a circle of blue sky lay not far down in

the ground

and when laura looked at it a little

girl’s head looked up at her

when she waved her hand a hand on the

water surface waved too

the water was clear and cold and

good laura thought she had never tasted

anything so good as those long

cold drinks of water paul hauled no more

stale

warm water from the creek he built a

solid

platform over the well and a heavy cover

for the hole that let the water bucket

through

laura must never touch that cover but

whenever she or mary was thirsty

ma lifted the cover and drew a dripping

bucket of

cold fresh water from that well