Book 2 21. INDIAN JAMBOREE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

indian jamboree

winter ended at last there was a softer

note in the sound of the wind

and the bitter cold was gone one day paw

said he had seen a flock of wild geese

flying north

it was time to take his furs to

independence

ma said the indians are so near

they are perfectly friendly said paw

he often met indians in the woods where

he was hunting

there was nothing to fear from indians

no ma said but laura knew that ma was

afraid of indians

you must go charles she said we must

have a plow and seeds and you will soon

be back again

before dawn next morning paw hitched pat

and patty to the wagon

loaded his furs into it and drove away

laura and mary counted the long empty

days

one two three four and still paul had

not come home

in the morning of the fifth day they

began earnestly to watch for him

it was a sunny day there was still a

little chill in the wind

but it smelled of spring the vast blue

sky

resounded to the quacks of wild ducks

and the hunk hunk honking of wild geese

the long black dotted lines of them were

all flying north

laura and mary played outdoors in the

wild sweet weather

and poor jack watched them inside

he couldn’t run and play anymore because

he was chained

laura and mary tried to comfort him but

he didn’t want

petting he wanted to be free again as he

used to be

paul didn’t come home that morning he

didn’t come home that afternoon

ma said it must have taken him a long

time to trade his furs

that afternoon laura and mary were

playing hopscotch

they marked the lines with a stick in

the muddy yard

mary really didn’t want to hop she was

almost eight years old and she didn’t

think that hopscotch was a ladylike play

but laura teased and coaxed and said

that if they stayed outdoors they would

be sure to see paul the minute he came

from the creek bottoms

so mary was hopping suddenly she stopped

on one foot

and said what’s that

laura had already heard the queer sound

and she was listening to it

she said it’s the indians

mary’s other foot dropped and she stood

frozen

still she was scared lara was not

exactly scared

but that sound made her feel funny it

was the sound of quite a lot of indians

chopping with their voices it was

something like the sound

of an axe chopping and something like a

dog barking

and it was something like a song but not

like any song that laura had ever heard

it was a wild fierce sound but it didn’t

seem angry

laura tried to hear it more clearly she

couldn’t hear it very well because hills

and trees and the wind were in the way

and jack was savagely growling

ma came outdoors and listened a minute

then she told mary and laura to come

into

the house ma took jack inside too and

pulled in the latch string

they didn’t play anymore they watched at

the window and listened to that sound

it was harder to hear in the house

sometimes they couldn’t hear it

then they heard it again it hadn’t

stopped

ma and laura did the chores earlier than

usual

they locked bunny in the cow and the

calf and the stable

and took the milk to the house ma

strained it and set it away

she drew a bucket of fresh water from

the well while laura and mary carried in

wood

all the time that sound went on it was

louder now

and faster it made laura’s heart beat

fast

they all went into the house and mob

barred the door

the latch string was already in they

wouldn’t go out of the house till

morning

the sun slowly sank all around the edge

of the prairie the edge of the sky

flushed pink

fire light flickered in the dusky house

and maul was getting supper

but laura and mary silently watched from

the window

they saw the colors fade from everything

the land was shadowy

and the sky was clear pale gray

all the time that sound came from the

creek bottoms louder and louder

faster and faster and laura’s heart beat

faster and louder how she shouted when

she heard the wagon

she ran to the door and jumped up and

down but she couldn’t unbar it

ma wouldn’t let her go out ma went out

to help paul bring in the bundles

he came in with his arms full and laura

and mary clung to his sleeves and

jumped on his feet paul laughed his

jolly big laugh

hey don’t upset me he left what do you

think i

am a tree to climb he dropped the

bundles on the table

he hugged laura in a big bear hug and

tossed her and

hugged her again then he hugged mary

snugly in his other arm

listen paul laura said listen to the

indians

why are they making that funny noise

oh they’re having some kind of jamboree

paul said

i heard them when i crossed the creek

bottoms

then he went out to unhitch the horses

and bring in the rest of the bundles

he had got the plow he left it in the

stable

but he brought all the seeds into the

house for safety

he had sugar not any white sugar this

time but brown

white sugar cost too much but he had

brought a little white flour

there were cornmeal and salt and coffee

and

all the seeds they needed paw even got

seed potatoes laura wished they might

eat the potatoes but they must be saved

to plant

then paw’s face beamed and he opened a

small paper sack

it was full of crackers he set it on the

table

and he unwrapped and set beside it a

glass jar

full of little green cucumber pickles

i thought we’d all have a treat he said

laura’s mouth watered and ma’s eyes

shone softly at paw

he had remembered how she longed for

pickles

that wasn’t all he gave ma a package and

watched her unwrap it

and in it was enough pretty calico to

make her a dress

oh charles you shouldn’t it’s too much

she said but her face and paws were two

beams of

joy now he hung up his cap

and his plaid coat on their pegs his

eyes looked sideways at laura and mary

but that was all he sat down and

stretched out his legs to the fire

mary sat down too and folded her hands

in her lap

but laura climbed onto paw’s knee and

beat him with her

fists where is it where is it where’s my

present

she said beating him paul laughed his

big laugh

like great big bells ringing and he said

well i do believe there’s something in

my blouse pocket

he took out an oddly shaped package and

very very slowly he opened it

you first mary he said because you’re so

patient and he gave mary a comb for her

hair

and here flutter budget this is for you

he said to laura the combs were exactly

alike

they were made of black rubber and

curved to fit over

the top of a little girl’s head and over

the top of the comb

lay a flat piece of black rubber with

curving slits cut in it

and in the very middle of it a little

five-pointed star was cut out

a bright colored ribbon was drawn

underneath and the color showed through

the ribbon in mary’s comb was blue and

the ribbon in laura’s comb was red

ma smoothed back their hair and slid the

combs into it

and there in the golden hair exactly

over the middle of mary’s forehead

was a little blue star and in laura’s

brown hair

over the middle of her forehead was a

little red star

laura looked at mary’s star and mary

looked at lara’s and they

laughed with joy they had never had

anything so pretty

moss said but charles you didn’t get

yourself a thing

oh i got myself a plow said paw

warm weather will be here soon now and

i’ll be plowing

that was the happiest supper they had

had for a long time

paul was safely home again the fried

salt pork was very good

after so many months of eating ducks and

geese and turkeys and venison

and nothing had ever tasted so good as

those crackers and the little green sour

pickles

pod told them all about the seeds he had

got seeds of

turnips and carrots and onions

and cabbage he had got peas and beans

and corn and wheat and tobacco and the

seed potatoes

and watermelon seeds he said to ma

i tell you caroline when we begin

getting crops off this rich land of ours

we’ll be living like kings

they had almost forgotten the noise from

the indian camp

the window shutters were closed now and

the wind was

moaning in the chimney and whining

around the house

they were so used to the wind that they

did not hear it

but when the wind was silent an instant

laura heard again that wild shrill fast

beating sound

from the indian camps then paul said

something to ma that made laura sit very

still and listen carefully

he said that folks and independents said

that the government was going to put the

white settlers

out of the indian territory he said the

indians had been complaining

and they had got that answer from

washington

oh charles no ma said not when we’ve

done so much

paul said he didn’t believe it he said

they always have let settlers keep the

land

they’ll make the indians move on again

didn’t i get word straight from

washington that this country’s going to

be open for settlement any time now

i wish they’d settle it and stop talking

about it ma said

after laura was in bed she lay awake a

long time and so did mary

paw and ma sat in the fire light and

candlelight reading

paul had brought a newspaper from kansas

and he read it to ma

and prove that he was right the

government would not do anything to the

white settlers

whenever the sound of the wind died away

laura could faintly hear the noise of

that wild jamboree in the indian camp

sometimes even above the howling of the

wind she thought she still heard those

fierce yells of jubilation faster

faster faster they made her heart beat

hey hi hi ha ha