Book 3 1. SCHOOL DAYS Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

[Music]

school days

it was january in northern new york

state

67 years ago snow lay deep everywhere

it loaded the bare limbs of oaks and

maples and beaches

it bent the green boughs of cedars and

spruces

down into the drifts billows of snow

covered the fields and the stone fences

down a long road through the woods a

little boy trudged to school

with his big brother royal and his two

sisters

eliza jane and alice royal was 13 years

old

eliza jane was 12 and alice was 10.

almanzo was the youngest of all and this

was his first going to school

because he was not quite nine years old

he had to walk fast to keep up with the

others and he had to carry the dinner

pail

royal ought to carry it he said he’s

bigger than i be

royal strode ahead big and manly in

boots

and eliza jane said no manzo

it’s your turn to carry it now because

you’re the littlest

eliza jane was bossy she always knew

what was best to do

and she made almanzo and alice do it

almanzo hurried behind royal and alice

hurried behind eliza jane

in the deep paths made by bobsled

runners

on each side the soft snow was piled

high

the road went down a long slope then it

crossed a little bridge

and went on for a mile through the

frozen woods to the schoolhouse

the cold nipped almanzo’s eyelids and

numbed his nose

but inside his good woolen clothes he

was warm

they were all made from the wool of his

father’s sheep

his underwear was creamy white but

mother had dyed the wool for his outside

clothes

butternut hulls had died the thread of

his coat and his long trousers

then mother had woven it and she had

soaked and shrunk

the cloth into heavy thick full cloth

not wind nor cold nor even a drenching

rain could go through the good full

cloth that mother made for almanzo’s

waist

she had dyed fine wool as red as a

cherry

she had woven a soft thin cloth it was

light

and warm and beautifully red

almanzo’s long brown pants buttoned to

his red waist

with a row of bright brass buttons all

around his middle

the waist’s collar buttons snuggly up to

his chin

and so did his long coat of brown full

cloth

mother had made his cap of the same

brown full cloth

with cozy ear flaps that tied under his

chin

and his red mittens were on a string

that went up the sleeves of his coat

and across the back of his neck that was

so he couldn’t lose them

he wore one pair of socks pulled snug

over the legs of his underdrawers

and another pair outside the legs of his

long brown

pants and he wore moccasins they were

exactly like the moccasins

that indians wore girls tied heavy veils

over their faces when they went out in

winter

but almanzo was a boy and his face was

out in the frosty air

his cheeks were red as apples and his

nose was redder than a cherry

and after he had walked a mile and a

half he was glad to see the schoolhouse

stood lonely in the frozen woods at the

foot of hard scrabble hill

smoke was rising from the chimney and

the teacher had shoveled a path

through the snow drifts to the door five

big boys were scuffling in the deep snow

by the path

almanzo was frightened when he saw them

royal pretended not to be afraid but he

was

they were the big boys from hard

scrabble settlement

and everybody was afraid of them

they smashed little boys sleds for fun

they’d catch a little boy and swing him

by his legs

then let him go head first into the deep

snow sometimes they made two little boys

fight each other

though the little boys didn’t want to

fight and beg to be let off

these big boys were 16 or 17 years old

and they came to school

only in the middle of the winter term

they came to thrash the teacher

and break up the school they boasted

that no teacher could finish the winter

term in that school

and no teacher ever had this year

the teacher was a slim pale young man

his name was mr course he was gentle and

patient

and never whipped little boys because

they forgot how to spell a word

almanzo felt sick inside when he thought

how the big boys would beat mr course

mr course wasn’t big enough to fight

them

there was a hush in the schoolhouse and

you could hear the noise the big boys

were making outside

the other pupils stood whispering

together by the big stove in the middle

of the room

mr course sat at his desk

one thin cheek rested on his slim hand

and he was reading a book he looked up

and said pleasantly

good morning royal and eliza jane and

alice answered him politely

but almanzo did not say anything he

stood by the desk

looking at mr course mr cors smiled at

him and said

do you know i’m going home with you

tonight

almanzo was too troubled to answer

yes mr coors said it’s your father’s

turn

every family in the district boarded the

teacher for two weeks

he went from farm to farm until he had

stayed two weeks at each one

then he closed school for that term when

he said this

mr course wrapped on his desk with his

ruler

it was time for school to begin all the

boys and girls went to their seats

the girls sat on the left side of the

room and boys set on the right side

with the big stove and wood box in the

middle between them

the big ones set in the back seats the

middle sized ones

in the middle seats and the little ones

in the front seats

all the seats were the same size the big

boys could hardly get their knees under

the desks

and the little boys couldn’t rest their

feet on the floor

almanzo and miles lewis were the premier

class

so they sat on the very front seat and

they had no desk

they had to hold their primers in their

hands

then mr course went to the window and

tapped on it

the big boys clattered into the entry

jeering

and loudly laughing they burst the door

open with a big noise and

swaggered in big bill richie was their

leader

he was almost as big as almanzo’s father

his fists were as big as almanzo’s

father’s fists

he stamped the snow from his feet and

noisily tramped to a back seat

the four other boys made all the noise

they could too

mr course did not say anything

no whispering was permitted in school

and no fidgeting

everyone must be perfectly still and

keep his eyes fixed on his lesson

almanzo and miles held up their primers

and tried not to swing their legs

their legs grew so tired that they ached

dangling from the edge of the seat

sometimes one leg would kick suddenly

before almanzo could stop it

then he tried to pretend that nothing

happened but he could feel mister course

looking at him

in the back seats the big boys whispered

and scuffled and slammed their books

mister course said sternly a little less

disturbance

please for a minute they were quiet

then they began again they wanted mr

chorus to try

to punish them when he did all five of

them

would jump on him at last the primer

class was called

and almanzo could slide off the seat and

walk with miles to the teacher’s desk

mr course took almanzo’s primer and gave

them words to spell

when royal had been in the primer class

he had often come home at night with his

hands stiff and swollen

the teacher had beaten the palm with a

ruler because royal did not know his

lesson

then father said if the teacher has to

thrash you again royal

i’ll give you a thrash and you’ll

remember

but mister course never beat a little

boy’s hand with his ruler

when almanzo could not spell a word mr

coors said

stay in at recess and learn it

at recess the girls were let out first

they put on their hoods and cloaks and

quietly went outdoors

after fifteen minutes mister course

wrapped on the window and they came in

hung their wraps in the entry and took

their books again

then the boys could go out for 15

minutes

they rushed out shouting into the cold

the first out began snowballing the

others

all that had sled scrambled up hard

scrabble hill

they flung themselves stomached down on

the sleds and swooped down the long

steep slope

they upset into the snow they ran and

wrestled

and threw snowballs and washed one

another’s faces with snow

and all the time they yelled as loud as

they could

when almanzo had to stay in his seat at

recess

he was ashamed because he was kept in

with the girls

at noon time everyone was allowed to

move about the school room and talk

quietly eliza jane opened the dinner

pail on her desk

it held bread and butter and sausage

donuts and apples and four delicious

apple turnovers their plump crusts

filled with melting slices of apple and

spicy brown

juice after almanzo had eaten every

crumb of his turnover and

licked his fingers he took a drink of

water from the pail with a dipper in it

on a bench in the corner then he put on

his cap

and coat and mittens and went out to

play

the sun was shining almost overhead

all the snow was a dazzle of sparkles

and the wood haulers were coming down

hardscrabble hill

high on the bobsleds piled with logs the

men

cracked their whips and shouted to their

horses and the horses shook jingles from

their string of bells

all the boys ran shouting to fasten

their sleds to the bobsled’s runners

and boys who had not brought their sleds

climbed up and rode on the loads of wood

they went merrily past the schoolhouse

and down the road

snowballs were flying thick up on the

loads the boys wrestled pushing each

other off into the deep drifts

almanzo and miles road shouting on

milesled

it did not seem a minute since they left

the schoolhouse

but it took much longer to go back first

they walked

then they trotted then they ran panting

they were afraid they’d be late then

they knew they were late

mr course would whip them all

the schoolhouse stood silent they did

not want to go in but they had to

they stole in quietly mr course sat at

his desk

and all the girls were in their places

pretending to study

on the boys side of the room every seat

was empty

almanzo crept to his seat in the

dreadful silence

he held up his primer and tried not to

breathe so loud

mr course did not say anything

bill ritchie and the other big boys

didn’t care

they made all the noise they could going

to their seats

mister course waited until they were

quiet

then he said i will overlook your

tardiness this one time

but do not let it happen again everybody

knew the big boys would be tardy again

mr course could not punish them because

they could thrash him

and that was what they meant to do