Book 2 24. INDIANS RIDE AWAY Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

indians right away

there was another long night of sleep it

was so good to lie down and sleep

soundly

everything was safe and quiet only the

owls called

in the woods along the creek while the

great moon

sailed slowly over the curve of the sky

above the endless prairie

in the morning the sun shone warmly

down by the creek the frogs were

croaking

they cried by the edge of the pools

knee deep knee deep

better go round ever since ma had told

them what the frogs were saying

mary and laura could hear the words

plainly

the door was open to let in the warm

spring air

after breakfast paul went out whistling

merrily

he was going to hitch pat and patty to

the plow again

but his whistling suddenly stopped he

stood on the doorstep

looking toward the east and he said come

here caroline

and you mary and laura laura ran

out first and she was surprised

the indians were coming they did not

come on the creek road

they came riding up out of the creek

bottoms far to the east

first came the tall indian who had gone

riding by the house in the moonlight

jack was growling and laura’s heart beat

fast

she was glad to be close to paw but she

knew this was the good indian

the osage chief who had stopped the

terrible war cries

his black pony came trotting willingly

sniffing the wind that blew its mane and

tail like fluttering banners

the pony’s nose and head were free it

wore no bridle

not even one strap was on it anywhere

there was nothing to make it do anything

it didn’t want to do

willingly it came trotting along the old

indian trail

as if it liked to carry the indian on

its back

jack growled savagely trying to get

loose from his chain

he remembered this indian who had

pointed a gun at him

paz said be still jack

jack growled again and for the first

time in their lives

paw struck him lie down be still

paul said jack cowered down and was

still

the pony was very near now and laura’s

heart beat faster and faster

she looked at the indians beated

moccasin she looked up along the fringed

legging that clung to the pony’s bare

side

a bright colored blanket was wrapped

around the indian

one bare brown red arm carried a rifle

lightly across the pony’s naked

shoulders

then laura looked up at the indians

fierce still brown face

it was a proud still face

no matter what happened it would always

be like that

nothing would change it only the eyes

were alive in that face

and they gazed steadily far away to the

west

they did not move nothing moved

or changed except the eagle feathers

standing straight up from the scalp lock

on the shaved head the long feathers

swayed and dipped

waving and spinning in the wind as the

tall

indian on the black pony passed on into

the distance

duchenne himself paul said under his

breath

and he lifted his hand in salute

but the happy pony and the motionless

indian went by

they went by as if the house and the

stable and paw

and ma and mary and laura were not there

at all

paul and ma and mary and laura slowly

turned and looked at that indians proud

straight back

then other ponies and other blankets and

shaved heads

and eagle feathers came between one by

one on the path

more and more savage warriors were

riding behind duchenne

brown face after brown face went by

ponies manes and tails blew in the wind

beads glittered fringe flapped eagle

feathers were waving on all the naked

heads

rifles lying on the pony shoulders

bristled all along the line

laura was excited about the ponies there

were black ponies

bay ponies gray and brown and spotted

ponies

their little feet went trippity trip

trip trippity trip

pat pat a pat patter trippity pat patter

all along the indian trail

their nostrils widened at jack and their

body shied away from him

but they came on bravely looking with

their bright eyes at laura

oh the pretty ponies see the pretty

ponies

she cried clapping her hands look at the

spotted one

she thought she would never be tired of

watching those ponies come by

but after a while she began to look at

the women and children on their backs

the women and children came riding

behind the indian men

little naked brown indians no bigger

than mary and laura

were riding the pretty ponies the ponies

did not have to wear bridles or saddles

and the little indians did not have to

wear clothes

all their skin was out in the fresh air

and the sunshine

their straight black hair blew in the

wind and their black eyes sparkled with

joy

they sat on their pony stiff and still

like grown-up indians

laura looked and looked at the indian

children and they looked at her

she had a naughty wish to be a little

indian girl

of course she did not really mean it she

only wanted to be bare naked in the wind

and the sunshine and riding one of those

gay little ponies

the indian children’s mothers were

riding ponies too

leather fringe dangled between their

legs and blankets were wrapped around

their bodies

but the only thing on their heads was

their black smooth hair

their faces were brown and placid some

had narrow bundles tight on their backs

and tiny babies head stuck out of the

top of the bundles

and some babies and some small children

rode in baskets hanging at the pony

sides beside their mothers

more and more and more ponies passed and

more children

and more babies on their mother’s backs

and more babies in baskets on the pony

sides

then came a mother riding with a baby in

a basket on each side of her pony

laura looked straight into the bright

eyes of the little baby nearer her

only its small head showed above the

basket’s rim

its hair was black as a crow and its

eyes were black as a night when no stars

shine

those black eyes looked deep into

laura’s eyes

and she looked deep down into the

blackness of that little baby’s eyes

and she wanted that one little baby

paw she said get me that little indian

baby

hush laura pau told her sternly the

little baby was going by

its head turned and its eyes kept

looking into laura’s eyes

oh i want it i want it laura begged

the baby was going farther and farther

away but it did not stop looking back at

laura

it wants to stay with me laura begged

please paul please hush

laura paul said the indian woman wants

to keep her baby

laura pleaded and then she began to cry

it was shameful to cry but she couldn’t

help it

the little indian baby was gone she knew

she would never see it anymore

ma said she had never heard of such a

thing for shame laura

she said but laura could not stop crying

why on earth do you want an indian baby

of all things ma

asked her its eyes are so

black laura sobbed she could not say

what she meant

why laura ma said you don’t want another

baby we have a baby our own

baby i want the other one too

laura sobbed loudly well i declare

ma exclaimed look at the indians laura

said paw look west and then look east

and see what you see laura could hardly

see at first

her eyes were full of tears and sobs

kept jerking out of her throat

but she obeyed pause best she could and

in a moment

she was still as far as she could see to

the west

and as far as she could see to the east

there were indians

there was no end to the long long line

that’s an awful lot of indians pause

said

more and more and more indians came

riding by

baby kerry grew tired of looking at

indians and played by herself on the

floor

but laura sat on the doorstep pau stood

close beside her

and ma and mary stood on the doorway

they looked

and looked and looked at indians riding

by

it was dinner time and no one thought of

dinner

indian ponies were still going by

carrying bundles of skins and tent poles

and dangling baskets and cooking pots

there were a few more women and a few

more naked indian children

then the very last pony went by

but paul and ma and laura and mary still

stayed in the doorway

looking till that long line of indians

slowly pulled itself

over the western edge of the world and

nothing was left

but silence and emptiness

all the world seemed very quiet and

lonely

ma said she didn’t feel like doing

anything she was so let down

paul told her not to do anything but

rest

oh you must eat something charles ma

said

no said paw i don’t feel hungry

he went soberly to hitch up pet and

patty

and he began again to break the tough

sod with the plow

laura could not eat anything either she

sat

a long time on the doorstep looking into

the empty west where the indians had

gone

she seemed still to see waving feathers

and black eyes

and to hear the sound of pony’s feet