Book 2 4. PRAIRIE DAY Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

prairie day

soft wickerings were close to laura’s

ear

and grain rattled into the feed box

paw was giving pat and patty their

breakfasts

back pet don’t be greedy he said

you know it’s patty’s turn pet stamped

her foot and knickered

now patty keep your own end of the box

said paw

this is for pet then a little squeal

from patty

got nipped didn’t jeff paul said and

serve you right i told you to eat your

own corn

mary and laura looked at each other and

laughed

they could smell bacon and coffee

and hear pancakes sizzling and they

scrambled out of bed

mary could dress herself all but the

middle button

laura buttoned that one for her then

mary button laura

all the way up the back they washed

their hands and faces in the tin wash

basin on the wagon step

ma combed every snarl out of their hair

while paul brought fresh water from the

creek

then they sat on the clean grass and ate

pancakes and bacon

and molasses from the tin plates in

their laps

all around them shadows were moving over

the waving grasses while the sun rose

meadowlarks were springing straight up

from the billows of grass into the high

clear sky

singing as they went small pearly clouds

drifted in the immense blueness overhead

in all the weed tops tiny birds were

swinging and

singing in tiny voices paul said they

were dick sizzles

dicky dicky laura called back to them

dickie bird eat your breakfast laura

ma said you must mind your manners even

if we are a hundred miles from anywhere

paul said mildly it’s only 40 miles to

independence caroline

and no doubt there’s a neighbor so

nearer than that

40 miles then ma agreed but whether or

no it isn’t good manners to sing at

table

or when you’re eating she added because

there was no table

there was only the enormous empty

prairie

with grasses blowing and waves of light

and shadow across it

and the great blue sky above it and

birds flying up from it

and singing with joy because the sun was

rising

and on the whole enormous prairie there

was no sign that

any other human being had ever been

there

in all that space of land and sky stood

the lonely small

covered wagon and close to it said paw

and ma

and laura and mary and baby carrie

eating their breakfasts

the mustangs munched their corn and

jack sat still trying hard not to beg

laura was not allowed to feed him while

she ate but she saved bits for him

and mom made a big pancake for him of

the last of the batter

rabbits were everywhere in the grass and

thousands of prairie chickens but jack

could not hunt his breakfast that day

paul was going hunting and jack must

guard the camp

first paw put pat and patty on their

picket lines

then he took the wooden tub from the

side of the wagon

and filled it with water from the creek

maul was going to do the washing

then paul stuck his sharp hatchet in his

belt

he hung his powder horn beside the

hatchet he

put the patch box and the bullet pouch

in his pocket

and he took his gun on his arm he said

to ma

take your time caroline we won’t move

the wagon till we want to

we’ve got all the time there is

he went away for a little while they

could see the upper part of him above

the tall grasses

going away and growing smaller then he

went out of sight

and the prairie was empty

mary and laura washed the dishes while

ma made the beds in the wagon

they put the clean dishes neatly in

their box

they picked up every scattered twig and

put it in the fire

they stacked the wood against a wagon

wheel

then everything about the camp was tidy

ma brought the wooden panicking of soft

soap from the wagon

she kilted up her skirts and rolled up

her sleeves

and she knelt by the tub on the grass

she washed sheets and pillowcases

and white under things she washed

dresses and

shirts and she rinsed them in clear

water

and spread them on the clean grass to

dry in the sun

mary and laura were exploring they must

not go

far from the wagon but it was fun to run

through the tall grass and the sunshine

and the wind

huge rabbits bounded away before them

birds fluttered up and settled again

the tiny dickie birds were everywhere

and their tiny

nests were in the tall weeds and

everywhere

were little brown striped gophers

these little creatures looked soft as

velvet

they had bright round eyes and crinkling

noses

and wee paws they popped out of holes in

the ground

and stood up to look at mary and laura

their hind legs folded under their

haunches

their little paws folded tight to their

chests

and they looked exactly like bits of

dead wood sticking out of the ground

only their bright eyes glittered

mary and laura wanted to catch one to

take to ma

again and again they almost had one the

gopher would stand perfectly still

until you were sure you had him this

time then just as you touched him

he wasn’t there there was only his round

hole in the ground

ran and ran and couldn’t catch one

mary sat perfectly still beside a hole

waiting for one to come up

and just beyond her reach gophers

scampered merrily

and gophers set up and looked at her but

not one

ever came out of that hole

once a shadow floated across the grass

and every gopher vanished

a hawk was sailing overhead it was so

close

that laura saw its cruel round eye

turned downward to look at her

she saw its sharp beak and its savage

claws

curled ready to pounce but the hawk saw

nothing but laura and mary

and round empty holes in the ground

it sailed away looking somewhere else

for its dinner

then all the little gophers came up

again

it was nearly noon then the sun was

almost overhead

so laura and mary picked flowers from

the weeds

and they took the flowers to ma instead

of a gopher

ma was folding the dry clothes the

little panties and petticoats were

whiter than snow

warm from the sun and smelling like the

grass

ma laid them in the wagon and took the

flowers

she admired equally the flowers that

laura gave her

and the flowers that mary gave her and

she put them together in a tin cup full

of water

she set them on the wagon step to make

the camp pretty

then she split two cold corn cakes and

spread them with molasses

she gave one to mary and one to laura

that was their dinner and it was

very good where is a peppu small

laura asked don’t speak with your mouth

full laura

said ma so laura chewed

and swallowed and she said i want to see

a papoose

mercy honest moss said whatever makes

you want to see

indians we will see enough of them

more than we want to i wouldn’t wonder

they wouldn’t hurt us

would they mary asked mary was always

good

she never spoke with her mouth full no

ma said don’t get such an idea into your

head

why don’t you like indian’s ma laura

asked

and she caught a drip of molasses with

her tongue

i just don’t like them and don’t lick

your fingers laura

said ma this is indian country isn’t it

lara said what did we come to their

country for if you don’t like them

ma said she didn’t know whether this was

indian country or not

she didn’t know where the kansas line

was but whether or no

the indians would not be here long paul

had word from a man in washington

that the indian territory would be open

to settlement soon

it might already be open to settlement

they could not know because washington

was so far away

then ma took the sat iron out of the

wagon and heated it by the fire

she sprinkled a dress for mary and a

dress for laura

and a little dress for baby carrie and

her own sprigged calico

she spread a blanket and a sheet on the

wagon seat

and she ironed the dresses

baby carrie slept in the wagon

laura and mary and jack lay on the shady

grass beside it because now the sunshine

was

hot jack’s mouth was open and his red

tongue hung out

his eyes blinked sleepily ma

hum softly to herself while the iron

smoothed all the wrinkles out of the

little dresses

all around them to the very edge of the

world

there was nothing but grasses waving in

the wind

far overhead a few white puffs of clouds

sailed in the thin blue air

laura was very happy

the wind sang a low rustling song in the

grass

grasshoppers rasping quivered up from

all the immense prairie

a buzzing came faintly from all the

trees in the creek bottoms

but all these sounds made a great warm

happy

silence laura had never seen a place she

liked

so much as this place

she didn’t know she’d gone to sleep

until she woke up

jack was on his feet wagging his stump

tail

the sun was low and paul was coming

across the prairie

laura jumped up and ran and his long

shadow stretched to meet her in the

waving grasses

he held up the game in his hand for her

to see he had a rabbit

the largest rabbit she had ever seen and

two plump prairie hens

lara jumped up and down and clapped her

hands and squealed

then she caught hold of his other sleeve

and hippity-hopped through the tall

grasses beside him

this country’s cram jammed with game he

told her

i saw 50 deer if i saw one an antelope

squirrels rabbits birds of all kinds

the creek’s full of fish he said to my

i tell you caroline there’s everything

we want here we can live like

kings that was a wonderful supper

they sat by the campfire and ate the

tender savory flavory meat till they

could eat

no more when at last laura sat down her

plate

she sighed with contentment she didn’t

want anything more in the world

the last color was fading from the

enormous sky and

all the level land was shadowy the

warmth of the fire was pleasant because

the night wind was cool

phoebe birds called sadly from the woods

down by the creek for a little while

a mockingbird sang then the stars came

out

and the birds were still softly pause

fiddle saying in the starlight

sometimes he sang a little and sometimes

the fiddle sang alone

sweet and thin and far away the fiddle

went on singing

[Music]

none

[Music]

the large bright stars hung down from

the sky

lower and lower they came quivering with

music

laura gasped and mark came quickly

what is it laura she asked and laura

whispered

the stars were singing

you’ve been asleep ma said it’s only the

fiddle

and it’s time little girls were in bed

she undressed laura in the firelight and

put her nightgown on

and tied her nightcap and tucked her

into bed

but the fiddle was still singing in the

starlight

the night was full of music and laura

was sure that part of it came from the

great

bright stars swinging so low above the

[Music]

prairie