Teachers’ Examinations
Through a March snowstorm Laura rode to town with Pa in the bobsled, to take the teachers’ examinations. There was no school that day, so Carrie and Grace stayed at home.

Barnum and Skip
June was gone, and Laura’s school was out. The organ was paid for. Laura learned to play a few chords with Pa’s fiddle, but she would rather listen to the fiddle alone, and after all, the organ was for Mary’s enjoyment when Mary came home.
One evening Pa said, “Tomorrow’s Fourth of July. Do you girls want to go to the celebration in town?”

Breaking the Colts
October days had come, and the wild geese were flying south, when once more Pa loaded the furniture on the wagon and they all moved back to town. Other people were moving in from the country, and the seats in the schoolhouse were filling up.

Jingle Bells
Waking next morning was happier than Christmas. “Oh, I’m at home!” Laura thought. She called, “Carrie! Good morning! Wake up, sleepyhead!” She almost laughed with joy as she shivered into her dress and skipped downstairs to button her shoes and comb her hair in the warming kitchen where Ma was getting breakfast.

A Stiff Upper Lip
All that week, everything went wrong; everything. Nothing gave Laura the least encouragement. The weather was sullen. Dull clouds lay low and flat above the gray-white prairie, and the wind blew monotonously. The cold was damp and clammy. The stoves smoked.

Laura Leaves Home
Sunday afternoon was clear, and the snow-covered prairie sparkled in the sunshine. A little wind blew gently from the south, but it was so cold that the sled runners squeaked as they slid on the hard-packed snow. The horses’ hoofs made a dull sound, clop, clop, clop. Pa did not say anything.
Sitting beside him on the board laid across the bobsled, Laura did not say anything, either. There was nothing to say. She was on her way to teach school.