Book 2 15. FEVER N AGUE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

fever and egg you

now blackberries were ripe and in the

hot afternoons

laura went with ma to pick them the big

black juicy berries hung

thick in briar patches and in the creek

bottoms

some were in the shade of trees and some

were in the sun

but the sun was so hot that laura and ma

stayed in the shade

there were plenty of berries deer lay in

the shady groves and watched ma and

laura

blue jays flew at their sun bonnets and

scolded because they were taking the

berries

snakes hurriedly crawled away from them

and in the trees

the squirrels woke up and chatted at

them wherever they went among the

scratchy briars mosquitoes rose up in

buzzing swarms mosquitoes were thick on

the big ripe berries

sucking the sweet juice but they like to

bite laura and ma as much as they like

to eat blackberries

laura’s fingers in her mouth were purple

black with berry juice

her face and her hands and her bare feet

were covered with briar scratches and

mosquito bites

and they were splattered with purple

stains too where she had slapped at the

mosquitoes

but every day they brought home pails

full of berries

and moss spread them in the sun to dry

every day they ate all the blackberries

they wanted

and next winter they would have dried

blackberries to stew

mary hardly ever went to pick

blackberries

she stayed in the house to mind baby

carrie because she was older

in the daytime there were only one or

two mosquitoes in the house

but at night if the wind wasn’t blowing

hard

mosquitoes came in thick swarms

on still nights paw kept piles of damp

grass

burning all around the house in the

stable the damp grass made a smudge of

smoke to keep the mosquitoes away

but a good many mosquitoes came anyway

paul could not play his fiddle in the

evenings because so many mosquitoes bit

him

mr edwards did not come visiting after

supper anymore because the mosquitoes

were so thick in the bottoms

all night pat and patty and the colt and

the calf and the cow were stamping and

swishing their tails in the stable

and in the morning lara’s forehead was

speckled with mosquito bites

now this won’t last long paw said fall

is not far away and the first cold wind

will settle them laura did not feel very

well

one day she felt cold even in the hot

sunshine and she could not get warm by

the fire

ma asked why she and mary did not go out

to play and laura said she didn’t feel

like playing

she was tired and she ached moss stopped

her work and asked

where do you ache laura didn’t exactly

know

she said i just ache

my legs ache i ache too

mary said maul looked at them

and said they looked healthy enough but

she said something must be wrong or they

wouldn’t be so quiet

she pulled up laura’s skirt and

petticoats to see where her legs ached

and suddenly lara shivered all over she

shivered so

that her teeth rattled in her mouth

mom put her hand against laura’s cheek

you can’t be cold she said your face is

hot as fire

laura felt like crying but of course she

didn’t only little babies cried

i’m hot now she said and my backaches

mark called paw and he came in

charles do look at the girls she said i

do believe they’re sick

well i don’t feel any too well myself

said paw

first i’m hot and then i’m cold and i

ache all over

is that the way you feel girls do your

very bones ache

mary and laura said that that was the

way they felt

then mom paul looked a long time at each

other and ma

said the place for you girls is bed

it was so queer to be put to bed in the

daytime

and laura was so hot that everything

seemed wavering

she held onto mars neck while ma was

undressing her

and she begged ma to tell her what was

wrong with her

you will be all right don’t worry ma

said cheerfully laura crawled into bed

and ma tucked her in it felt good to be

in bed

ma smoothed her forehead with her cool

soft hand

and said there now go to sleep

laura did not exactly go to sleep but

she didn’t really wake up again for a

long long time

strange things seemed to keep happening

in a haze

she would see park crouching by the fire

in the middle of the night

then suddenly sunshine hurt her eyes and

moth fed her broth from a spoon

something dwindled slowly smaller and

smaller

till it was tinier than the tiniest

thing

then slowly it swelled till it was

larger than

anything could be two voices jabbered

faster and faster

than a slow voice drawled more slowly

than laura could bear

there were no words only voices

mary was hot in the bed beside her mary

threw off the covers

and laura cried because she was so cold

then she was burning up

and pau’s hand shook the cup of water

water spilled down her neck the tin cup

rattled against

her teeth so she could hardly drink then

ma

tucked in the covers and maw’s hand

burned against laura’s cheek

she heard paul say go to bed caroline

moss said you’re sicker than i am

charles

laura opened her eyes and saw bright

sunshine

mary was sobbing i want a drink of water

i want a drink of water i want a drink

of water

jack went back and forth between the big

bed and the little bed

laura saw paw lying on the floor by the

big bed

jack pawed at paw and whined

he took hold of paw sleeve with his

teeth and shook it

pau’s head lifted up a little and he

said

i must get up i must

caroline and the girls then his head

fell back and he lay still

jack lifted up his nose and howled

laura tried to get up but she was too

tired

then she saw ma’s red face looking over

the edge of the big bed

mary was all the time crying for water

ma looked at mary and then she looked at

laura and she whispered

laura can you

yes ma laura said

this time she got out of bed but when

she tried to stand up

the floor rocked and she fell down

jack’s tongue lapped and lapped at her

face and he quivered and whined

but he stood still and firm when she

took hold of him and sat up against him

she knew she must get water to stop

mary’s crying

and she did she crawled all the way

across the floor to the water bucket

there was only a little water in it she

shook

so with cold as she could hardly get

hold of the dipper

but she did get hold of it she dipped up

some water

and she set out to cross that enormous

floor again

jack stayed beside her all the way

mary’s eyes didn’t open her hands held

onto the dipper and her mouth swallowed

all the water out of it

then she stopped crying the dipper fell

on the floor

and laura crawled under the covers it

was a long time before she began to get

warm again

sometimes she heard jack sobbing

sometimes he howled and she thought he

was a wolf but she was not afraid

she lay burning up and hearing him howl

she heard the voices jabbering again and

the slow

voice drawling and she opened her eyes

and saw a big black face close above

her face it was cold black and shiny

its eyes were black and soft its teeth

shone white in a thick big mouth

this face smiled and a deep voice said

softly

drink this little girl

an arm lifted under her shoulders and a

black hand held a cup to her mouth

laura swallowed a bitter swallow and

tried to turn her head away

but the cup followed her mouth the

mellow deep voice said again

drink it it will make you well

so laura swallowed the whole bitter dose

when she woke up a fat woman

was stirring the fire laura looked at

her carefully and she was not black

she was tanned like ma

i want a drink of water please laura

said

the fat woman brought it at once the

good

cold water made laura feel better she

looked at mary asleep beside her

she looked at paw and ma asleep in the

big bed

jack lay half asleep on the floor laura

looked again at the fat woman and asked

who are you i’m mrs scott

the woman said smiling there now

you feel better don’t you yes

thank you laura said politely

the fat woman brought her a cup of hot

prairie chicken broth

drink it all up like a good child she

said

laura drank every drop of the good broth

now go to sleep said mrs scott

i’m here to take care of everything to

your all well

next morning laura felt so much better

that she wanted to get up but mrs scott

said she must stay in bed until the

doctor came

she lay and watched mrs scott tidy the

house and give medicine to paw and ma

and mary

then it was laura’s turn she opened her

mouth

and mrs scott poured a dreadful

bitterness out of a small folded paper

onto laura’s tongue

laura drank water and swallowed and

swallowed and drank again

she could swallow the powder but she

couldn’t swallow the bitterness

then the doctor came and he was the

black man

laura had never seen a black man before

and she could not take her eyes off of

dr

tan he was so very black

she would have been afraid of him if she

had not liked him so much

he smiled at her with all his white

teeth

he talked with paw and ma and laughed a

rolling jolly laugh

they all wanted him to stay longer but

he had to hurry away

mrs scott said that all the settlers up

and down the creek had fever and egg you

there were not enough well people to

take care of the sick and she’d been

going from house to house working night

and day

it’s a wonder you ever lived through she

said

all of you down at once what might have

happened if dr tan hadn’t found them she

didn’t know

dr tan was a doctor with the indians he

was on his way north to independence

when he came

to paw’s house it was a strange thing

that

jack who hated strangers and never let

one come near the house until par

ma told him to had gone to meet dr

tan and begged him to come in

and here you all were more dead than

alive

mrs scott said dr tan had stayed with

them a day and a night before mrs scott

came

now he was doctoring all the sick

settlers

mrs scott said that all this sickness

came from eating watermelons

she said i’ve said a hundred times if i

have once that watermelons

what’s that pau exclaimed who’s got

watermelons

mrs scott said that one of the settlers

had planted watermelons in the creek

bottoms

and every soul who had eaten one of

those melons was down

sick that very minute she said she had

warned them

but no she said there was no arguing

with them

they would eat those melons and now

they’re paying for it

i haven’t tasted a good slice of

watermelon since hector was a pup

said paw next day he was out of bed

the next day laura was up then ma got up

and then mary they were all thin and

shaky but they could take care of

themselves

so mrs scott went home ma said she

didn’t know how they could ever thank

her

and mrs scott said shaw what are

neighbors for but to help each other out

pau’s cheeks were hollows and he walked

slowly

ma often sat down to rest and laura and

mary didn’t feel like playing

every morning they all took those bitter

powders

but ma still smiled her lovely smile and

paul whistled cheerfully

it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow some

good he said

he wasn’t able to work so he could make

a rocking chair for more

he brought some slender willows from the

creek bottoms

and he made the chair in the house he

could stop any time to put wood on the

fire or lift a kettle for more

first he made four stout legs and braced

them firmly with cross pieces

then he cut thin strips of the tough

willow skin just under the bark

he wove these strips back and forth

under and over

until they made a seat for the chair

he split a long straight sapling down

the middle

he pegged one end of half of it to the

side of the seat

and curved it up and over and down and

pegged the other end

to the other side of the seat that made

a high

curved back to the chair he braced it

firmly

and then he wove the thin willow strips

across

up and down under and over each other

till they filled in the chair back

with the other half of the split sapling

paul made

arms for the chair he curved them from

the front of the seat to the chair back

and he filled them in with woven strips

last of all he split a larger willow

which had grown in a curve he turned the

chair upside down

and he pegged the curved pieces to its

legs to make the rockers

and the chair was done then they made a

celebration

ma took off her apron and smoothed her

smooth brown hair

she pinned her gold pin in the front of

her collar

mary tied the string of beads around

carrie’s neck

and paw and laura put mary’s pillow on

the chair seat

and set laura’s pillow against its back

over the pillows paw spread the quilt

from the little bed

then he took ma’s hand and led her to

the chair

and he put baby carry in her arms

leaned back in the softness her thin

cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled

with tears but her smile was beautiful

the chair rocked her gently and she said

oh charles i haven’t been so comfortable

since i don’t know when

then paul took his fiddle and he played

and sang to ma

in the fire light ma rocked

and baby carrie went to sleep and mary

and laura sat on their bench and were

happy

the very next day without saying where

he was going

paul wrote away on patty mar wondered

and wondered where he had gone

and when paul came back he was balancing

a watermelon in front of him on the

saddle

he could hardly carry it into the house

he let it fall on the floor

and drop down beside it i thought i’d

never get it here he said

it must weigh 40 pounds and i’m as weak

as water

hand me the butcher knife but charles ma

said you mustn’t mrs scott

said paul laughed his big peeling laugh

again

but that’s not reasonable he said this

is a good melon

why should it have fever and egg you

everybody knows that fever and egg you

comes from breathing the night air

this watermelon grew in the night air

said ma

nonsense pau said give me the butcher

knife i’d eat this melon if i knew it

would give me chills and fever

i do believe you would said ma handing

him the knife

it went into the melon with a luscious

sound

the green grind split open and there was

the bright red inside

flecked with black seeds the red heart

actually looked frosty

nothing had ever been so tempting as

that watermelon on that hot day

ma would not taste it she would not let

laura and mary eat

one bite but paw ate slice

after slice after slice until at last he

sighed

and said the cow could have the rest of

it

next day he had a little chill and a

little fever

ma blamed the watermelon but next day

she had a chill and a little fever

so they did not know what could have

caused their fever and egg you

no one knew in those days that fever and

egg you was malaria

and that some mosquitoes give it to

people when they bite them