Book 2 12. FRESH WATER TO DRINK Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder
fresh water to drink
paw had made the bedstead he had
smoothed the oak slabs till there was
not a splinter on them
then he pegged them firmly together four
slabs made a box to hold the straw tick
across the bottom of it paw stretched a
rope zigzagged from side to side and
pulled it tight
one end of the bedstead pop pegged
solidly to the wall
in a corner of the house only one corner
of the bed was not against a wall
at this corner paw set up a tall slab
he pegged it to the bedstead as high up
as he could reach
he pegged two strips of oak to the walls
and to the tall slab
then he climbed up on them and pegged
the top of the tall slab
solidly to a rafter and on the strips of
oak he laid a shelf above the bed
there you are caroline he said
i can’t wait to see it made up said ma
help me bring in the straw tick she had
filled the straw tick that morning
there was no straw on the high prairie
so she had filled it with dry
clean dead grass it was hot from the
sunshine and it had a grassy sweet smell
paw helped to bring it into the house
and lay it in the bedstead
she tucked the sheets in and spread her
prettiest patchwork quilt over them
at the head of the bed she set up the
goose feather pillows
and spread the pillow shams against them
on each white pillow sham
two little birds were outlined with red
thread
then paw and ma and laura and mary stood
and looked at the bed
it was a very nice bed the zigzag
rope was softer than the floor to sleep
on the straw tick was plump with the
sweet smelling grass
the quilt lay smooth and the pretty
pillow sham
stood up crisply the shelf was a good
place to store things
the whole house had quite an air with
such a bed in it
that night when ma went to bed she
settled into the crackling straw tick
and said to paw
i declare i’m so comfortable it’s almost
sinful
mary and laura still slept on the floor
but paul would make a little bed for
them as soon as he could
he had made the big bed and he had made
a stout cupboard
and padlocked it so the indians could
not take all the cornmeal if they came
again now he had only to dig a well
and then he would make that trip to town
he must dig the well first so that mark
could have water while he was gone
next morning he marked a large circle in
the grass near the corner of the house
with his spade he cut the sod inside the
circle
and lifted it up in large pieces then he
began to shovel out the earth
digging himself deeper and deeper down
mary and laura must not go near the well
while paul was digging
even when they couldn’t see his head
anymore shovelfuls of earth came
flying up at last the spade flew up and
fell in the grass
then pod jumped his hands cut hold of
the sod then one elbow gripped it
and then the other elbow and with a
heave paw came
rolling out i can’t throw the dirt out
from any deeper
he said he had to have help now
so he took his gun and rode away on
paddy
when he came back he brought a plump
rabbit
and he had traded work with mr scott mr
scott would help him dig this well
and then he would help dig mr scott’s
well
ma and laura and mary had not seen mr
and mrs scott
their house was hidden somewhere in a
little valley on the prairie
laura had seen the smoke rising up from
it and that was all
at sun up next morning mr scott came
he was short and stout his hair was
bleached by the sun
and his skin was bright red and scaly he
did not tan
he peeled it’s this blasted sun and wind
he said beg your pardon man but it’s
enough to make a saint use strong
language i might as well be a snake the
way i keep on shedding my skin in this
country
laura liked him every morning as soon as
the dishes were washed and the beds made
she ran out to watch mr scott and paul
working at the well
the sunshine was blistering even the
winds were hot
and the prairie grasses were turning
yellow
mary preferred to stay in the house and
sew on her patchwork quilt
but laura liked the fierce light and the
sun and the wind and she couldn’t stay
away from the well
but she was not allowed to go near its
edge
paw and mr scott had made a stout
windless
it stood over the well and two buckets
hung from it on the ends of a rope
when the windlass was turned one bucket
went down into the well
and the other bucket came up in the
morning
mr scott slid down the rope and dug
he filled the buckets with earth almost
as fast as paw could haul them up and
empty them
after dinner paw slid down the rope into
the well
and mr scott hauled up the buckets
every morning before paul would let mr
scott go down the rope
he set a candle in a bucket and lighted
it
and lowered it to the bottom once laura
peeped over the edge
and she saw the candle brightly burning
far down
in the dark hole in the ground then paul
would say
seems to be all right and he would pull
up the bucket and blow out the candle
well that’s all foolishness ingalls mr
scott said
the well was all right yesterday you
never can tell
paul replied better be safe than sorry
laura did not know what danger paw was
looking for by that candlelight
she did not ask because paul and mr
scott were busy
she meant to ask later but she forgot
one morning mr scott came while paul was
eating breakfast
they heard him shout hi ingles it’s sun
up let’s go
paw drank his coffee and went out the
windlass began to creak
and pau began to whistle laura and mary
were washing the dishes and ma
was making the big bed when paw’s
whistling stopped
they heard him say scott
he shouted scott scott
then he called caroline come quick
ma ran out of the house laura ran after
her
scots fainted or something down there
paul said i’ve got to go down after him
did you send down the candle ma asked no
i thought he had i asked him if it was
all right and he said it was
paul cut the empty bucket off the rope
and tied the rope firmly to the windlass
charles you can’t you mustn’t ma said
caroline i’ve got to you can’t oh
charles no i’ll make it all right i
won’t breathe till i get out we can’t
let him die down there
moss said fiercely laura keep back
so laura kept back she stood against the
house and shivered
no no charles i can’t let you ma said
get on paddy and go for help there isn’t
time charles
if i can’t pull you up if you kill over
down there and i can’t pull you up
caroline i’ve got to pause said he swung
into the well
his head slid out of sight down the rope
mark crouched and shaded her eyes
staring down into the well
all over the prairie meadowlarks were
rising singing flying
straight up into the sky the wind was
blowing warmer
but laura was cold
suddenly ma jumped up and sees the
handle of the windlass
she tugged at it with all her might the
rope strained
and the windlass creaked laura thought
that paw had killed over down in the
dark bottom of the well
and mark couldn’t pull him up but the
windlass turned a little
and then a little more paw’s hand came
up
holding to the rope his other hand
reached above it and took hold of the
rope
then paul’s head came up his arm held on
to the windlass
then somehow he got to the ground and
sat there
the windlass whirled around and there
was a thud
deep down in the well paul struggled to
get up and moss said
sit still charles laura get some water
quick
laura ran she came hurrying back lugging
the pail of water
paw and ma were both turning the
windlass the rope slowly wound itself
up and the bucket came up out of the
well and
tied to the bucket and the rope was mr
scott
his arms and his legs and his head hung
and wobbled
his mouth was partly open and his eyes
half
shut paul tugged him onto the grass
paul rolled him over and he flopped
where he was rolled
paul felt his wrist and listened at his
chest and then paul lay down beside him
he’s breathing paul said he’ll be all
right
in the air i’m all right caroline and
plum tuckered out is all
well ma scolded i should think you would
be
of all the senseless performances my
goodness gracious scaring her body to
death awful want of a little reasonable
care my goodness i
she covered her face with her apron and
burst out crying
that was a terrible day i don’t want
a well mossab it isn’t worth it i won’t
have you running such risks
mr scott had breathed a kind of gas that
stays deep in the ground
it stays at the bottom of wells because
it’s heavier than air
it cannot be seen or smelled but no one
can breathe it very long
and live paw had gone down into that gas
to tie mr scott to the rope
so that he could be pulled up and out of
the gas
when mr scott was able he went home
before he went he said to paul you were
right about that candle business ingalls
i thought it was all foolishness and i
would not bother with it
but i found out my mistake
well said paw where a light can’t live i
know i can’t
and i like to be safe when i can be
but all’s well that ends well
paul rested a while he had breathed a
little of the gas and he felt like
resting
but that afternoon he raveled a thread
from a toe sack
and he took a little powder from his
powder horn
he tied the powder in a piece of cloth
with one end of the toe string in the
powder
come along laura he said and i’ll show
you something
they went to the well paul lighted the
end of the string
and waited till the spark was crawling
quickly along it
then he dropped the little bundle into
the well
in a minute they heard a muffled bang
and a puff of smoke came out of the well
that will bring the gas paw said
when the smoke was all gone he let laura
light the candle
and stand beside him while he let it
down
all the way down in the dark hole the
little candle kept on burning like a
star
so next day paul and mr scott went on
digging the well
but they always sent the candle down
every morning
there began to be a little water in the
well but it was not enough
the buckets came up full of mud and paul
and mr scott worked every day
in deeper mud in the mornings when the
candle went down
it lighted oozing wet walls and
candlelight sparkled in rings over the
water when the bucket struck bottom
paw stood knee-deep in water and bailed
out bucket fulls before he could begin
digging in the mud
one day when he was digging a loud shout
came
echoing up ma ran out of the house and
laura ran to the well
pull scott pull pau yelled
a swishing gurgling sound echoed down
there
mr scott turned the windlass as fast as
he could
and paul came up climbing hand over hand
up the rope
i’m blamed if that’s not quicksand paul
gasped as he stepped onto the ground
muddy and dripping i was pushing down
hard on the spade
when all of a sudden it went down the
whole length of the handle and water
came pouring up
all around me a good six feet of this
rope’s wet
mr scott said winding it up the bucket
was
full of water you showed sense in
getting out of that hand over hand
ingles
that water came up faster than i could
pull you out
then mr scott slapped his thigh and
shouted i’m
blasted if you didn’t bring up the spade
sure enough paw had saved his spade
in a little while the well was almost
full of water
a circle of blue sky lay not far down in
the ground
and when laura looked at it a little
girl’s head looked up at her
when she waved her hand a hand on the
water surface waved too
the water was clear and cold and
good laura thought she had never tasted
anything so good as those long
cold drinks of water paul hauled no more
stale
warm water from the creek he built a
solid
platform over the well and a heavy cover
for the hole that let the water bucket
through
laura must never touch that cover but
whenever she or mary was thirsty
ma lifted the cover and drew a dripping
bucket of
cold fresh water from that well