Book 2 6. MOVING IN Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

moving in

the walls are up paul was saying

tomorrow in the morning

we better move in and get along as best

we can without a floor or other fixings

i must build the stable as fast as i can

so pat

and patty can be inside walls too last

night i could hear wolves howling from

every direction

seemed like and close too

well you have your gun so i’ll not worry

said ma

yes and there’s jack but i’ll feel

easier in my mind when you and the girls

have good solid walls around you

why do you suppose we haven’t seen any

indians

ma asked oh i don’t know paul replied

carelessly

i’ve seen their camping places among the

bluffs

they’re away on a hunting trip now i

guess

then ma called girls

the sun’s up and laura and mary

scrambled out of bed

and into their clothes

eat your breakfast quickly ma said

putting the last of the rabbit stew on

their tin plates

we’re moving into the house today and

all the chips must be out

so they ate quickly and hurried to carry

all the chips out of the house

they ran back and forth as fast as they

could gathering their skirts full of

chips

and dumping them in a pile near the fire

but there were still chips on the ground

inside the house when ma began to sweep

it with her willow bow broom

ma limped though her sprained ankle was

beginning to get well

but she soon swept the earthen floor and

then mary and laura began to help her

carry things into the house

paul was on top of the walls stretching

the canvas wagon top over the skeleton

roof of saplings

the canvas billowed in the wind

paw’s beard blew wildly and his hair

stood up from his head as if it were

trying to pull itself

out he held onto the canvas and fought

it

once it jerked so hard that laura

thought he must let go

or sail into the air like a bird but he

held tight to the wall with his legs

and tied to the canvas with his hands

and he tied it down

there he said to it stay where you are

and beat

charles ma said she stood with her arms

full of quilts and looked up at him

reprovingly

and be good paw said to the canvas

why caroline what’d you think i was

going to say

oh charles ma said you scallywag

paw came right down the corner of the

house

the ends of the log stuck out and he

used them for a ladder

he ran his hand through his hair so that

it stood up even more wildly

and mom burst out laughing then he

hugged her

quilts and all then they looked at the

house and paw said

how’s that for a snug house i’ll be

thankful to get

into it said ma there was no door

and there were no windows there was no

floor

except the ground and no roof except the

canvas

but that house had good stout walls and

it would stay where it was

it was not like the wagon that every

morning went on to some other place

we’re gonna do well here caroline paul

said

this is a great country this is a

country i’ll be contented to stay in the

rest of my life

even when it settled up ma asked

even when it settled up no matter how

thick and close the neighbors get this

country will never feel crowded

look at that sky laura knew what he

meant

she liked this place too she liked the

enormous sky

and the winds and the land that you

couldn’t see

to the end of everything was so fresh

and

clean and big and splendid

by dinner time the house was in order

the beds were neatly made on the floor

the wagon seat

and two ends of logs were brought in for

chairs

paw’s gun lay on its pegs above the

doorway

boxes and bundles were neat against the

walls

it was a pleasant house a soft light

came through the canvas roof wind and

sunshine came through the window holes

and every crack in the four walls glowed

a little

because the sun was overhead

only the campfire stayed where it had

been

paw said he would build a fireplace in

the house as soon as he could

he would hew out slabs to make a solid

roof too before winter came

he would lay a punch and floor and make

beds and tables and chairs

but all that work must wait until he had

helped mr edwards and had built a stable

for pat

and patty when that’s all done

said ma i want a clothesline

paul left yes and i want a well

after dinner he hitched pat and patty to

the wagon

and he hauled a tub full of water from

the creek so that ma could do the

washing

you could wash clothes in the creek he

told her

indian women do if we wanted to live

like indians you could make a hole in

the roof to let the smoke out and we’d

have the fire on the floor

inside the house said ma indians do

that afternoon she washed the clothes in

the tub

and spread them on the grass to dry

after

supper they sat for a while by the

campfire

that night they would sleep in the house

they would never sleep beside a campfire

again

paul and ma talked about the folks in

wisconsin

and maul wished she could send them a

letter but independence was 40 miles

away

and no letter could go until paul made

the long trip to the post office there

back in the big woods so far away

grandpa and grandma

and the aunts and uncles and cousins did

not know where paw and ma

and laura and mary and baby carrie were

and sitting there by the campfire no one

knew what might have happened in the big

woods

there was no way to find out

well it’s bedtime ma said

baby carrie was already asleep mark

carried her into the house and undressed

her

while mary unbuttoned laura’s dress and

petticoat waist

down the back and paul hung a quilt over

the door hole

the quilt would be better than no door

then paul went out to bring

pat and patty close to the house

he called back softly come out here

caroline and look at the moon

mary and laura lay in their little bed

on the ground inside the new house

and watch the sky through the window

hole to the east

the edge of the big bright moon

glittered at the bottom of the window

space

and laura sat up she looked at the great

moon

sailing silently higher in the clear sky

its light made silvery lines and all the

cracks on that side of the house

the light poured through the window hole

and made a square of

soft radiance on the floor it was so

bright that laura saw ma plainly when

she lifted the quilt at the door and

came

in then laura very quickly lay down

before ma

saw her naughtily sitting up in bed

she heard pet and patty winning softly

to paw

then the faint thuds of their feet came

into her ear from the floor

pat and patty and paw were coming toward

the house

and laura heard paw singing

sail on silver moon

shed your radiance or the sky

[Music]

his voice was like a part of the night

and the moonlight

and the stillness of the prairie he came

to the doorway singing

by the pale silver light

of the moon softly ma said

hush charles you’ll wake the children

so paul came in without a sound jack

followed at his heels and lay down

across the doorway

now they were all inside the stout walls

of their new home

and they were snug and safe

drowsily laura heard a long wolf howl

rising from far away on the prairie

but only a little shiver went up her

backbone

and she fell asleep