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Then he took his fiddle out of its box He played for a long tiht, while Laura and Mary sat close to him and Ma rocked Carrie near by

He played “Dixie Land,” and “We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!” He played “All the Blue Bonnets Are Over the Border,” and

“Oh, Susanna, don’t you cry for me!

I’ to California

With my washpan on my knee!”

He played “The Ca, Hurrah! Hurrah!” Then he played “Life Let Us Cherish” And he put away the fiddle He

“Take good care of the old fiddle, Caroline,” he said “It puts heart into a man”

After breakfast, at dawn, Pa kissed them all and went away His extra shirt and pair of socks were rolled in his ju on his shoulder Just before he crossed Plum Creek he looked back and waved Then he went on, all the way out of sight, without turning again Jack stood pressed close against Laura

They all stood still for a one Then Ma said, cheerfully, “We have to take care of everything now, girls Mary and Laura, you hurry with the cow to meet the herd”

She went briskly into the house with Carrie, while Laura and Mary ran to let Spot out of the stable and drive her toward the creek No prairie grass was left, and the hungry cattle could only wander along the creek banks, eatingsprouts and plurass left from last summer

Chapter 27

Rain

Everything was flat and dull when Pa was gone Laura and Mary could not even count the days till he would co farther and farther away in his patched boots

Jack was a sober dog now and his nose was turning gray Often he looked at the ehed, and lay down to watch it But he did not really hope that Pa would come

The dead, eaten prairie was flat under the hot sky Dust devils rose up and whirled across it The far-away edge of it seemed to crawl like a snake Ma said that was caused by the heat waves of the air