Book 3 4. SURPRISE Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder
surprise
every day at noon the wood haulers came
down hard scrabble hill
and the boys hitched their sleds to the
bobsled’s runners
and rode away down the road but they
went only a little way
and came back in time only big bill
richie and his friends didn’t care how
soon mr course tried to punish them
one day they were gone until after
recess
when they came tramping into the
schoolhouse they all grinned
impudently at mr course he waited until
they were in their seats
then he stood up pale and said
if this occurs again i shall punish you
everybody knew what would happen next
day
when royal and almanzo reached home that
night they told
father almanzo said it wasn’t fair
mr course wasn’t big enough to fight
even one of those big boys
and they would all jump on him at once
i wish i was big enough to fight him he
said
son mr coors hired out to teach the
school
father answered the school trustees were
fair and above board with him
they told him what he was undertaking he
undertook it
it’s his job not yours
but maybe they’ll kill him almanzo said
that’s his business said father
when a man undertakes a job he has to
stick to it till he finishes it
if course is the man i think he is he’d
thank nobody for interfering
almanzo couldn’t help saying it again
it isn’t fair he can’t fight all five of
them
i wouldn’t wonder if you’d be surprised
son father said
now you boys get a hustle on these
chores can’t wait all night
so almanzo went to work and did not say
any more
all next morning while he set holding up
his primer he could not study
he was dreading what was going to happen
to mr course
when the primer class was called he
could not read the lesson
he had to stay in with the girls at
recess and he wished he could lick bill
richie
at noon he went out to play and he saw
mr richie
bill’s father coming down the hill on
his loaded bobsled
all the boys stood where they were and
watched mr richie
he was a big rough man with a loud voice
and a loud laugh
he was proud of bill because bill could
thrash school teachers and break up the
school
nobody ran to fasten a sled behind mr
richie’s bobsled
but bill and the other big boys climbed
up on his load of wood
they rode loudly talking around the bend
of the road and out of sight
the other boys did not play anymore they
stood and talked about what would happen
when mr chorus wrapped on the window
they went in
soberly and soberly sat down
that afternoon nobody knew the lessons
mr korres called up class after class
and they lined up with their toes on a
crack in the floor
but they could not answer his questions
mr course did not punish anybody
he said we will have the same lesson
again tomorrow
everybody knew that mr course would not
be there tomorrow
one of the little girls began to cry
then three or four of them put their
heads down on their desks and sobbed
almanzo had to sit still in his seat and
look at his primer
after a long time mr course called him
to the desk to see if he could read the
lesson now
almanzo knew every word of it but there
was a lump in his throat that would not
let the words
out he stood looking at the page while
mr course waited
then they heard the big boys coming
mr cors stood up and put his thin hand
gently on almanzo’s shoulder he turned
him around
and said go to your seat almanzo
the room was still everybody was waiting
the big boys came up the path and
clattered into the entry
hooting and jostling one another the
door
banged open and big bill richie
swaggered in the other big boys were
behind him
mr course looked at them and did not say
anything
bill richie laughed in his face and
still he did not speak
the big boys jostled bill and he jeered
again at mr course
then he led them all tramping loudly
down the aisle to their seats
mr course lifted the lid of his desk
and dropped one hand out of sight behind
the raised lid
he said bill richie
come up here big bill
jumped up and tore off his coat yelling
come on boys he rushed up the aisle
almanzo felt sick inside he didn’t want
to watch but he couldn’t help it
mr course stepped away from his desk his
hand
came from behind the desk lid and a long
thin black streak hissed through the air
it was a black snake ox whip 15 feet
long
mr course held the short handle loaded
with iron that could kill an ox
the thin long lash coiled around bill’s
legs and mr course
jerked bill lurched and almost fell
quick as black lightning the lash
circled and stuck and coiled again
and again mr course jerked come up here
bill richie he said
jerking bill toward him and backing away
bill could not reach him
faster and faster the lash was hissing
and crackling
coiling and jerking and more and more
quickly mr course backed away
jerking bill almost off his feet up and
down they went into the open space in
front of the desk
the lash cap coiling and tripping bill
mister course kept running backward and
striking bill’s trousers were cut
through
his shirt was slashed his arms bleeding
from the bite of the lash
it came and went hissing too fast to be
seen
bill rushed and the floor shook when the
whiplash jerked him over
backward he got up swearing and tried to
reach the teacher’s chair to throw it
the lash jerked him around he began to
bawl like a calf
he blubbered and begged the lash kept on
hissing
circling jerking bit by bit it jerked
bill to the door
mr course threw him headlong into the
entry and slammed
and locked the door turning quickly he
said
now john come on up
john was on the aisle staring he whirled
around
and tried to get away but mr coarse took
a quick step caught him with the
whiplash
and jerked him forward oh please please
please teacher john begged mr course did
not answer
he was panting and sweat trickled down
his cheek
the whiplash was coiling and hissing
jerking john to the door
mr course threw him out and slammed the
door
and turned the other big boys had got
the window open
one two three they jumped out into the
deep snow
and floundered away mr
course coiled the whip neatly and laid
it in his desk
he wiped his face with his handkerchief
straightened his collar and said
royal will you please close the window
royal tiptoed to the window and shut it
then mr course called the arithmetic
class
nobody knew the lesson all the rest of
the afternoon
no one knew a lesson and there was no
recess that afternoon everybody had
forgotten it
almanzo could hardly wait till school
was dismissed and he could rush out with
the other boys and yell
the big boys were licked mr
course had licked bill richie’s gang
from hard scrabble settlement
but almanzo did not know the best part
of it till he listened to his father
talking to mr course that night at
supper
the boys didn’t throw you out royal
tells me father said
no said mr course thanks to your black
snake whip
almanzo stopped eating he sat and looked
at father
father had known all the time
it was father’s black snake whip that
had bested big bill richie
almanzo was sure the father was the
smartest man
in the world as well as the biggest
and strongest
father was talking he said that while
the big boys were riding on mr richie’s
bobsled they had told mr richie that
they were going to thrash the teacher
that afternoon
mr richie thought it was a good joke he
was so sure the boys would do it
that he told everyone in town they had
done it
and on his way home he had stopped to
tell father that bill had thrashed mr
course and broken up the school again
almanzo thought how surprised mr richie
must have been when he got home and saw
bill