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