Book 4 13. A MERRY CHRISTMAS Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder
a merry christmas
next morning snow was in the air
hard bits of snow were leaping and
whirling in the howling wind
laura could not go out to play in the
stable spot and pete
and bright stood all day long eating the
hay
and straw in the dugout paul mended his
boots
while ma read to him again the story
called milbank
mary sowed and laura played with
charlotte
she could let carrie hold charlotte but
carrie was too little to play with paper
dolls
she might tear one that afternoon when
carrie was asleep
ma beckoned mary and laura her face was
shining with a secret
they put their heads close to hers and
she told them
they could make a button string for
carrie’s christmas
they climbed onto their bed and they
turned their backs to carrie
and spread their laps wide ma brought
them her button box
the box was almost full ma had saved
buttons
since she was smaller than laura and she
had buttons her mother had saved when
her mother was a little girl
there were blue buttons and red buttons
silvery
and goldy buttons curved in buttons with
tiny raised castles and bridges and
trees on them
and twinkling jet buttons painted china
buttons
striped buttons buttons like juicy
blackberries
and even one tiny doghead button
laura squealed when she saw it shh
ma shushed her but carrie did not wake
up
ma gave them all those buttons to make a
button string for carrie
after that laura did not mind staying in
the dugout
when she saw the outdoors the wind was
driving
snow drifts across the bare frozen land
the creek was ice
and the willow tops rattled in the
dugout
she and mary had their secret they
played gently with carrie and gave her
everything she wanted
they cuddled her and sang to her and got
her to sleep whenever they could
then they worked on the button string
mary had one end of the string and laura
had the other
they picked out the buttons they wanted
and strung them on the string
they held the string out and looked at
it and took off some buttons
and put on others sometimes they took
every button off and started again
they were going to make the most
beautiful button string
in the world one day ma
told them that this was the day before
christmas they must finish the button
string that day
they could not get carried asleep she
ran and shouted
climbed on benches and jumped off and
skipped and sang
she did not get tired mary told her to
sit still like a little lady but she
wouldn’t
laura let her hold charlotte and she
jount charlotte up and down and flung
her against the wall
finally ma cuddled her and sang
laura and mary were perfectly still
lower and lower more sang and carrie’s
eyes
blinked till they shut when softly moss
stopped singing
carrie’s eyes popped open and she
shouted
more more more but at last
she fell asleep then quickly quickly
laura and mary finished the button
string
ma tied the ends together for them it
was done
they could not change one button more
it was a beautiful button string
that evening after supper when carrie
was sound asleep
ma hung her clean little pair of
stockings from the table edge
laura and mary in their nightgowns slid
the button string into one stocking
then that was all mary and laura were
going to bed when paw asked them
aren’t you girls going to hang your
stockings
but i thought laura said i thought santa
claus
was going to bring his horses maybe he
will
said paw but little girls always hang up
their stockings on christmas eve don’t
they
laura did not know what to think neither
did mary
ma took two clean stockings out of the
clothes box
and paw helped hang them beside carries
laura and mary said their prayers and
went to sleep
wondering in the morning
laura heard the fire crackling she
opened one eye the least bit
and saw a lamplight and a bulge in her
christmas stocking
she yelled and jumped out of bed mary
came running too and carrie woke up
in laura’s stocking and in mary’s
stocking there were little paper
packages just alike
in the packages was candy
laura had six pieces and mary had six
they had never seen such beautiful candy
it was too beautiful to eat some pieces
were like ribbons
bent in waves some were short bits of
round stick candy and on their flat ends
were colored flowers that went all the
way through
some were perfectly round and striped
in one of kerry’s stockings were four
pieces of that beautiful candy
in the other was the button string
carrie’s eyes and her mouth were
perfectly round when she saw it
then she squealed and grabbed it and
squealed again
she sat on paw’s knee looking at her
candy and her button string
and wriggling and laughing with joy
then it was time for paw to do the
chores he said
do you suppose there’s anything for us
in the stable and ma
said dress as fast as you can girls and
you can go to the stable and see what
paul finds
it was winter so they had to put on
stockings and shoes
but ma helped them button up the shoes
and she pinned their shawls under their
chins
they ran out into the cold everything
was gray
except a long red streak in the eastern
sky
its red light shone on the patches of
gray white snow
snow was caught on the dead grass on the
walls and roof of the stable and it was
red
paws stood waiting in the stable door he
laughed when he saw laura and mary
and he stepped outside to let them go in
there standing in pete’s and bright’s
places
were two horses they were larger than
pet and patty
and they were a soft red brown color
shining like silk
their manes and tails were black their
eyes were bright and gentle
they put their velvety noses down to
laura and nibbled softly at her hand
and breathed warm on it well
flutter budget said paw and mary
how do you girls like your christmas
very much paw
said mary but laura could only say
oh paw paw’s eyes shone deep and he
asked
who wants to ride the christmas horses
to water
laura could hardly wait while he lifted
mary up
and showed her how to hold on to the
mane and told her not to be afraid
then paw’s strong hand swung laura up
she sat on the horse’s big gentle back
and felt its aliveness carrying her
all outdoors was glittering now with
sunshine on snow and frost
paul went ahead leading the horses and
carrying his
axe to break the ice in the creek so
they could drink
the horses lifted their heads and took
deep breaths and
whooshed the cold out of their noses
their velvety ears pricked forward
then back and forward again
laura held to her horse’s mane and
clapped her shoes
together and laughed paw and the horses
and mary and laura were all happy in the
gay
cold christmas morning