Book 2 3. CAMP ON THE HIGH PRAIRIE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

camp on the high prairie

palm made camp as usual first he

unhitched an unharnessed patent patty

and he put them on their picket lines

picket lines were long ropes fastened to

iron pegs driven into the ground

the pegs were called picket pins when

horses were on picket lines

they could eat all the grass that the

long ropes would let them reach

but when pet and patty were put on them

the first thing they did was to lie down

and

roll back and forth and over they rolled

till the feeling of the harness was all

gone from their backs

pat and patty were rolling paul pulled

all the grass from a large round space

of ground

there was old dead grass at the roots of

the green grass

and paul would take no chance of setting

the prairie on fire

if fire once started in that dry

undergrass

it would sweep that whole country bare

and black

paw said best be on the safe side it

saves trouble in the end

when the space was clear of grass paul

laid a handful of dry grass in its

center

from the creek bottoms he brought an

armful of twigs and dead wood

he laid small twigs and larger twigs

and then the wood on the handful of dry

grass

and he lighted the grass the fire

crackled merrily inside the ring of bare

ground that it couldn’t get out of

then paul brought water from the creek

while mary and laura helped ma get

supper

ma measured coffee beans into the coffee

mill

and mary ground them lara filled the

coffee pot with the water paul brought

and moss set the pot in the coals she

set the iron bake oven in the coals too

while it heated she mixed cornmeal and

salt with water

and patted it into little cakes she

greased the bake oven with a pork rind

laid the cornmeal cakes in it and put on

its iron cover

then paul raked more coals over the

cover

while ma sliced fat salt pork

she fried the slices and the iron spider

the spider had short legs to stand on

in the coals and that was why it was

called

a spider if it had had no legs

it would have been only a frying pan

the coffee boiled the cakes baked

the meat fried and they all smelled so

good that laura grew hungrier and

hungrier

pau set the wagon seat near the fire he

and ma

sat on it mary and laura sat on the

wagon

tongue each of them had a tin plate

and a steel knife and a steel fork with

white bone handles ma had a tin cup

and paw had a tin cup and baby carrie

had a little one all her own

but mary and laura had to share their

tin cup

they drank water they could not drink

coffee until they grew up

while they were eating supper the purple

shadows closed around the campfire

the vast prairie was dark and still

only the wind moved stealthily through

the grass

and the large low stars hung glittering

from the great sky

the campfire was cozy in the big chill

darkness the slices of pork were crisp

and fat the corn cakes were good

in the dark beyond the wagon pat and

patty were eating too

they bit off bites of grass with sharply

crunching sounds

we’ll camp here a day or two said paw

maybe we’ll stay here there’s good land

timber in the bottoms plenty of game

everything a man could want what do you

say caroline

we might go farther and fare worse mar

replied

anyway i’ll look around tomorrow paul

said

i’ll take my gun and get us some good

fresh meat

he lighted his pipe with a hot coal and

stretched out his legs comfortably

the warm brown smell of tobacco smoke

mixed with the warmth of the fire

mary yawned and slid off the wagon

tongue to sit on the grass

laura yawned too ma

quickly washed the tin plates the tin

cups

the knives and the forks she washed the

bake oven in the spider

and rinsed the dishcloth for an instant

she was still listening to the long

whaling howl from the dark prairie

they all knew what it was but that sound

always ran

cold up lara’s backbone and crinkled

over the back of her head

ma shook the dishcloth and then she

walked into

the dark and spread the cloth on the

tall grass to dry

when she came back paul said wolves

half a mile away i’d judge well

well there’s deer there will be wolves

i wish he didn’t say what he wished

but laura knew he wished jack were there

when wolves held in the big woods laura

had always known that jack would not let

them hurt her

a lump swelled hard in her throat and

her nose smarted

she winked fast and did not cry

that wolf or perhaps another wolf

how old again bedtime for little girls

moss said cheerfully mary got up and

turned around so that mark could

unbutton her

but laura jumped up and stood still

she saw something deep in the dark

beyond the fire light two green lights

were shining near the ground

they were eyes cold ran

up laura’s backbone her scalp crinkled

her hair stood up the green lights moved

one winked out then the other winked out

then both shone steadily coming nearer

very rapidly they were coming nearer

look paw look laura said a wolf

paw did not seem to move quickly but he

did

in an instant he took his gun out of the

wagon and was ready to fire at those

green eyes

the eye stopped coming they were still

in the dark

looking at him it can’t be a wolf

unless it’s a mad wolf paw said

maul lifted mary into the wagon

and it’s not that said paw

listen to the horses pat and patty were

still

biting off bits of grass a lynx

said ma or a coyote

paw picked up a stick of wood he shouted

and threw it the green eyes went close

to the ground as if the animal crouched

to spring

paul held the gun ready the creature did

not move

don’t charles ma said but paul slowly

walked toward those eyes

and slowly along the ground the eyes

crawled

toward him laura could see the animal in

the edge of the dark

it was a tawny animal and brindled

then paul shouted and laura screamed

the next thing she knew she was trying

to hug

a jumping panting wriggling

jack who lapped her face and hands with

his warm wet tongue

she couldn’t hold him he leaped and

wriggled from her to paw

to ma and back to her again

well i’m beat pau said so

am i said ma but did you have to wake

the baby

she rocked carrie in her arms hushing

her

jack was perfectly well but soon he laid

down close to laura

and sighed a long sigh

his eyes were red with tiredness and all

the under part of him was caked with mud

ma gave him a cornmeal cake and he

licked it

and wagged politely but he could not eat

he was too tired

no telling how long he kept swimming

paul said

nor how far he was carried downstream

before he landed

and when at last he reached them laura

called him a wolf

and paw threatened to shoot him but jack

knew they didn’t mean it

laura asked him you knew we didn’t mean

it didn’t you jack

jack wagged his stump of a tail he knew

it was past bedtime paw chained pat and

patty

to the feed box at the back of the wagon

and fed them their corn

carrie slept again and ma helped mary

and laura undress

she put their long nightgowns over their

heads while they stuck their arms into

the sleeves

they buttoned the neckbands themselves

and tied the strings of their nightcaps

beneath their chins

under the wagon jack wearily turned

around

three times and lay down to sleep

in the wagon laura and mary said their

prayers

and crawled into their little bed ma

kissed them good night on the other side

of the canvas

pat and patty were eating their corn

when patty whooshed into the feed box

the whoosh was

right at laura’s ear there were little

scurrying sounds in the grass

in the trees by the creek an owl called

farther away another owl answered

far away on the prairie the wolves

howled

and under the wagon jack growled low in

his chest

in the wagon everything was safe and

snug

thickly in front of the open wagon top

hung the large glittering stars

paw could reach them laura thought

she wished he would pick the largest one

from the thread on which it hung from

the sky

and give it to her she was

wide awake she was not sleepy at all

but suddenly she was very much surprised

the large star winked at her

then she was waking up next morning