Today is Friday.
In the night a strange noise wakened Laura. It sounded like a shot, but it was sharper and longer than a shot. Again and again she heard it. Mary and Carrie were asleep, but Laura couldn’t sleep until Mia’s voice came softly through the dark. She asked Laura to go to sleep and told Laura that it was only the ice cracking. Next morning Pa told Ma that it was lucky that they had crossed the day before that day and he wouldn’t wonder if the ice had broken up that day, and though they had made a late crossing, they were lucky it hadn’t start breaking up while they had been out in the middle of it. Ma replied gently that she had thought about it the day before. Laura hadn’t thought about it before, but now she thought what would have happened if the ice had cracked under the wagon wheels and they had all gone down into the cold water in the middle of that vast lake. Ma said to Pa that he were frightening somebody, and Pa caught Laura up in his safe, big hug. He told Laura that they were across the Mississippi, hugging her joyously. Pa asked them if they would like little half-pint of sweet cider half drunk up and if they liked going out west where Indians lived. Laura said she liked it, and she asked if they were in the Indian country now. But they were not; they were in Minnesota.
