Book 6 22. COLD AND DARK Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder
cold and dark
that blizzard seemed never to end it
paused sometimes
only to roar again quickly and more
furiously out of the northwest
three days and nights of yelling shrill
winds
and roaring fury beat at the dark cold
house and
ceaselessly scoured it with ice sand
then the sun shone out from morning till
noon perhaps
and the dark anger of winds and icy snow
came again
sometimes in the night half awake and
cold
laura half dreamed that the roof was
scoured thin
horribly the great blizzard large as the
sky
bent over it and scoured with an
enormous invisible cloth
round and round on the paper-thin roof
till a hole wore through
and squealing chuckling laughing a deep
ha-ha
the blizzard whirled in barely in time
to save herself
laura jumped awake then she did not dare
sleep again
she lay still and small in the dark and
all around her the black darkness of
night
that had always been restful and kind to
her
was now a horror she had never been
afraid of the dark
i am not afraid of the dark she said to
herself
over and over but she felt that the dark
would catch her with claws and teeth if
it could hear her move or breathe
inside the walls under the roof where
the nails were clumps of frost
even under the covers where she huddled
the dark was
crouched and listening daytimes were not
so bad as the nights
the dark was thinner then and ordinary
things were in it
a dark twilight filled the kitchen and
the lean too
mary and carrie took turns at the coffee
mill that must never stop grinding
ma made the bread and swept and cleaned
and fed the fire
in the lean two laura and paw twisted
hay till their cold hands could not hold
the hay to twist it
and must be warmed at the stove
the hay fire could not keep the cold out
of the kitchen
but close to the stove the air was warm
mary’s place was in front of the oven
with grace in her lap
carey stood behind the stovepipe and
mars chair was on the other side of the
stove
paw and laura leaned over the
stovehearth into the warmth that rose
upward
their hands were red and swollen the
skin was cold
and covered with cuts made by the sharp
sloohy
the hay was cutting away the cloth of
their coats on the left side and along
the underneath of their left coat
sleeves
ma patched the warm places but the hay
cut away the patches
for breakfast there was brown bread ma
toasted it
crisp and hot in the oven and she let
them dip it in their tea
it was thoughtful of you charles to lay
in such a supply of tea
she said there was still plenty of tea
and there was still sugar for
it for the second meal of the day
she boiled 12 potatoes in their jackets
little grace needed only one the others
had two apiece
and ma insisted that paw take the extra
one they’re not big potatoes charles she
argued and you must keep up your
strength
anyway eat it to save it we don’t want
it do we girls
no ma they all said no thank you part
truly i don’t want it
this was true they were not really
hungry
paul was hungry his eyes looked eagerly
at the brown bread and the steaming
potatoes when he came from struggling
along the clothesline in the storm
but the others were only tired tired of
the winds and the cold
and the dark tired of brown bread and
potatoes
tired and listless and dull
every day laura found time to study a
little
when enough hay was twisted to last for
an hour
she sat down by mary between the stove
and the table
and opened the school books but she felt
dull
and stupid she could not remember
history
and she leaned her head on her hand and
looked at a problem on her slate without
seeing how to solve it or wanting to
come come girls we must not mope ma said
straighten up laura and carrie do your
lessons briskly and then we’ll have an
entertainment
houma kerry asked get your lessons first
said ma when study time was over
ma took the independent fifth reader now
she said let’s see how much you can
repeat from memory
you first mary what shall it be
the speech of regulus said mary now turn
the leaves until she found it
and mary began ye doubtless thought for
ye judge of roman virtue by your own
that i would break my plighted oath
rather than returning
brook your vengeance mary could repeat
the whole of that splendid defiance
here in your capital do i defy you have
i not conquered your armies
fired your towns and dragged your
generals at my chariot wheels since
first my youthful arms could wield a
spear
the kitchen seemed to grow larger and
warmer
the blizzard winds were not as strong as
those words
you did that perfectly mary mark praised
her
now laura old tubal kane
laura began and the verses lifted her to
her feet
you had to stand up and let your voice
ring out with the hammer strokes of
tubal cane
old tubal kane was a man of might in the
days when the earth was young
by the fierce red light of his furnace
bright
the strokes of his hammer rung paw came
in before laura reached the end
go on go on he said that warms me as
much as the fire
so laura went on while pau got out of
his coat that was white and stiff with
snow driven into it
and leaned over the fire to melt the
snow frozen in his eyebrows
and saying hurrah for tubal kane our
stunt good friend is he
and for the plowshare and the plow to
him our prey shall be
but while oppression lifts its head on a
tyrant would-be lord
though we may thank him for the plow we
will not forget the sword
you remembered every word correctly
laura ma said shutting the book
carrie and grace shall have their turns
tomorrow
it was time then to twist more hay but
while laura shivered and twisted the
sharp stuff in the cold
she thought of more verses tomorrow
afternoon was something to look forward
to
the fifth reader was full of beautiful
speeches and poems and she wanted to
remember perfectly as many of them
as mary remembered the blizzard stopped
sometimes
the whirling wind straightened out and
steadied the air cleared above blowing
snow
and paw set out to haul hay
then laura and ma worked quickly to do
the washing and hang it out in the cold
to freeze dry
no one knew how soon the blizzard would
come again
at any moment the cloud might rise and
come faster than any horses could run
paul was not safe out on the prairie
away from the town
sometimes the blizzard stopped for half
a day sometimes the sun shone from
morning to sunset
and the blizzard came back with the dark
on such days paul hauled
three loads of hay until he came back
and put david in the stable
laura and ma worked hard and silently
looking often at the sky and listening
to the wind
and carey silently watched the northwest
through the peephole that she made on
the window
paul often said that he could not have
managed without david
he is such a good horse pause said i did
not know a horse could be so good and
patient
when david fell through the snow he
always stood still
until paul shoveled him out then quickly
and patiently he hauled the sled around
the hole
and went on until he fell through the
snow crust again
i wish i had some oats or corn to give
him pau said
when the roaring and shrieking winds
came back and the scouring snow
whirled again paul said well there’s hay
enough to last a while
thanks to david the clothes line
was there to guide him to the stable and
back there was hay
and still some wheat and potatoes and
while the storm winds blew
paul was safe at home and in the
afternoons
mary and laura and carrie recited even
grace knew
mary’s little lamb and bo peep has lost
her sheep
laura liked to see grace’s blue eyes and
carries shine with excitement when she
told them
listen my children and you shall hear of
the midnight ride of paul revere
on the 18th of april in 75
hardly a man is now alive who remembers
that famous day and year
she and carrie both love to repeat in
concert
the swans nest little ellie sits alone
mid the beaches of a meadow by a stream
side on the grass
and the trees are showering down doubles
of their leaves in
shadow on her shining hair and face
the air was warm and quiet there the
grass was warm in the sunshine the clear
water saying it song to itself
and the leaves softly murmured the
meadows insects
drowsily hummed while they were there
with little ellie
laura and carrie almost forgot the cold
they hardly heard the winds and the
whirling hard snows scouring the walls
one still morning laura came downstairs
to find maul looking surprised and paul
laughing go look out the back door he
told laura
she ran through the lean-to and opened
the back door
there was a rough low tunnel going into
shadows in gray white snow
its walls and its floor were snow and
its snow
roof solidly filled the top of the
doorway
i had to go from my way to the stable
this morning paw explained
but what did you do with the snow laura
asked
oh i made the tunnel as low as i could
get through
i dug the snow out and pushed the back
of me and up through a hole that i
blocked with the last of it
there’s nothing like snow for keeping
out the wind paul rejoiced
as long as the snow bank stands i can do
my chores and comfort how deep is the
snow
ma wanted to know i can’t say it’s piled
up considerably deeper than the lean two
roof paw
answered you don’t mean to say this
house is buried in snow
ma exclaimed a good thing if it is paul
replied you notice the kitchen is warmer
than it has been this winter
laura ran upstairs she scratched a
peephole on the window and put her eyes
to it
she could hardly believe them main
street was level with her eyes
across the glittering snow she could see
the blank square top of hawthorne’s
false front sticking up like a short
piece of solid board fence
she heard a gay shout and then she saw
horses hooves trotting rapidly before
her eyes
eight grey hoofs with slender brown
ankles swiftly bending and straightening
passed quickly by and then a long sled
with two pairs of boots standing on it
she crouched down to look upward to the
peephole but the sled was gone
she saw only the sky sharp with sunlight
that stabbed her
eyes she ran down to the warm kitchen to
tell what she had seen
the wilder boy’s paw said they’re
hauling hay
how do you know paw laura asked him i
only saw the horse’s feet and the boots
there’s no one in town but those two in
me that dares go out of town said paw
folks are afraid a blizzard will come up
those wilder boys are hauling in all
their slough hay from big slough and
selling it for three dollars a load to
burn
three dollars ma exclaimed yes
and fair enough for the risk they take
they’re making a good thing out of it
wish i could but they’ve got coal to
burn
i’ll be glad if we have enough hay to
last us through i wasn’t counting on it
for our winter’s fuel
they went by as high as the houses laura
exclaimed
she was still excited it was strange to
see horses hooves and a sled
and boots in front of your eyes as a
little animal
a gopher for instance might see them
it’s a wonder they don’t sink in the
drifts
ma said oh no paul was wolfing his toast
and drinking his tea rapidly
they won’t sink these winds pack the
snow as hard as a rock
david’s shoes don’t even make tracks on
it the only troubles
where the grass is lodged and loose
underneath
he got into his wraps in a hurry those
boys have got the start of me this
morning
i was digging the tunnel now i’ve got to
dig david out of the stable
got to haul hay while the sun shines he
joked as he shut the door behind
him he’s feeling chipper because he’s
got that tunnel said ma
it’s a blessing he can do the chores in
some comfort out of the wind
that day they could not watch the sky
from the kitchen window
so little cold came through the snow
that laura led mary
into the lean-to and taught her how to
twist hay
mary had wanted to learn but the lean-to
had been too cold
it took her some time because she could
not see how laura twisted and held the
strands and tucked in the ends
but at last she did it well they stopped
to warm themselves only a few times
while they twisted the whole day’s
supply of haysticks
then the kitchen was so warm that they
need not crowd around the stove
the house was very still the only sounds
were the little sounds of ma
and mary rocking the slate pencil on the
slate
the tea kettle’s pleasant hum and their
own low voices speaking
what a blessing this deep snow drift is
ma said
but they could not watch the sky
watching it did no good
if the low gray cloud was swiftly rising
they could not stop it
they could not help paw he would see the
cloud and reach shelter as quickly as he
could
laura thought this many times but just
the same she hurried upstairs through
the cold to peep from the window
ma and carrie looked at her quickly when
she came down
and she always answered them out loud so
that mary would know
the sky’s clear and not a thing is
stirring but millions of glitters on the
snow i don’t believe there’s a breath of
wind
that afternoon paul dragged haye through
the tunnel to cram the lean too
full he had dug the tunnel past the
stable door so that david could get out
and beyond the stable he had turned the
tunnel at an angle to check the winds
that might blow into it
i never saw such weather he said it must
be all of 40 degrees below zero and not
a breath of air stirring
the whole world seems frozen solid
i hope this cold holds going through
that tunnel is no chore at all to do the
chores
next day was exactly the same the
stillness
and the dusk and the warmth seemed to be
a changeless dream
going on forever the same like the
clocks ticking
laura jumped in her chair when the clock
cleared its throat before it struck
don’t be so nervous laura ma murmured as
if she were half asleep
they did not recite that day they did
not do anything
they just sat the night was still
too but morning woke them with a
howling fury the winds had come again
and the lashing whirl of snow
well the tunnel’s going fast paw said
when he came into breakfast
his eyebrows were frozen white with snow
again and his wraps were stiff with it
cold was pressing the warmth back again
to the stove
i did hope my tunnel would last through
one of these onslaughts anyway
gosh dang this blizzard it only lets go
long enough to spit on its hands
don’t swear charles ma snapped at him
she clapped her hand to her mouth in
horror oh charles i’m sorry
she apologized i didn’t mean to snap at
you
but this wind blowing and blowing her
voice
died away and she stood listening
i know caroline paul answered i know
just how it makes you feel it tires you
out
i’ll tell you what after breakfast we’ll
read for a while about livingston’s
africa
it’s too bad i’ve burned so much hay
this morning charles mars said
i’ve had to burn more trying to get the
place warm
never mind there’s no trick to twist
more paul replied
i’ll help pa laura offered we’ve got all
day for it
paul said everything is snug at the
stable till night we’ll twist hay first
then we’ll read
grace began to whimper my feet’s cold
for shame grace a big girl like you go
warm your feet
laura told her come sit on my lap and
warn them
mary said feeling her way to her rocking
chair before the oven
after laura and paul had twisted a great
pile of hay sticks and stacked them by
the stove
carrie brought paw his big green book
please read about the lion’s paw she
asked him we can play the wind as lions
roaring
i’m afraid i’ll have to have a light
caroline paul said
this print is small ma lighted the
button lamp and set it by him
now he said this is a jungle night in
africa
the flickering light here is from our
campfire wild animals are all around us
yowling and squealing and roaring
lions and tigers and hyenas and i guess
a hippopotamus or two
they won’t come anywhere near us because
they’re afraid of the fire
you hear big leaves rasping too and
queer birds squawking it’s a thick
black hot night with big stars overhead
now i’m going to read what happens he
began to read
laura tried to listen but she felt
stupid and numb
paw’s voice slid away into the ceaseless
noises of the storm
she felt that the blizzard must stop
before she could do anything before she
could even listen or think
but it would never stop it had been
blowing forever
she was tired she was tired of the cold
and the dark
tired of brown bread and potatoes tired
of twisting hay and grinding wheat
filling the stove and washing dishes and
making beds and going to sleep and
waking up
she was tired of the blizzard winds
there was no tune in them anymore
only a confusion of sound beating on her
ears
paw she spoke suddenly interrupting his
reading
won’t you play the fiddle paul looked at
her in surprise
then he laid down the book why yes laura
he said if you want to hear the fiddle
i’ll play it
he opened and shut his hands and rubbed
the fingers while laura brought the
fiddle box from its warm shelter on the
floor behind the stove
paul rosened the bow tucked a fiddle
under his chin
and touched the strings he looked at
laura
play bonnie dune laura said and pop
played and sang
how can ye bloom
fresh and fair but
every note from the fiddle was a very
little wrong
pause fingers were clumsy the music
dragged and a fiddle string snapped
my fingers are too stiff and thick from
being out in the cold so much i
i can’t play pause spoke as if he were
ashamed
he laid the fiddle in its box put it
away laura
until some other time he said i wish
you’d help me anyway charles
ma said she took the coffee mill from
mary and emptied the ground wheat from
its little drawer
she filled the small hopper with kernels
and handed the mill to paw
i’ll need another grinding to make the
bread for dinner she told him
ma took the covered dish of souring from
its warm place under the stove
she stirred it briskly then measured two
cupfuls into a pan
added salt and salaratus and the flower
that mary and carrie had ground
then she took the mill from paw and
added the flower he had made
that’s just enough she said thank you
charles
i’d better be doing the chores now
before it gets too dark paul said
i’ll have a hot meal ready and waiting
by the time you come in
ma reminded him he put on his wraps and
went out into the storm
lara listened to the winds while she
stared at the blank window without
seeing it
the worst thing that had happened was
that paw could not play the fiddle
if she had not asked him to play he
might not have known that he could not
do it
ma with carrie crowded him beside her
sat in her rocking chair by the stove
opposite mary she held grace in her arms
and rocked slowly
softly singing to her i will sing you a
song
of that beautiful land the far away home
of the soul where no storms
ever beat on that glittering strand
while the years of eternity roll
the wailing hymn blended with the whale
of the winds
while nights settled down deepening the
dusk
of whirling snow