The Voyage of the Rattletrap | Page 8

as the
easiest way out of it, we decided to get up. It was cool and dewy, with
the larger stars still shining faintly. We found Jack under the wagon.
Ollie stirred him up, and said:

[Illustration: Plan for Rousing a Sound Sleeper]
"See any varmints in the night, Uncle Jack?"
"Yes," answered Jack, as he unrolled himself from his blanket. "Or at
least I felt one. That disgraceful Old Blacky nibbled at my ear twice.
The first time I thought it was nothing less than a bear."
"Did he disturb Snoozer?"
"I guess nothing ever disturbs Snoozer. He never moved all night.
How's the firewood department, Ollie?"
"All right," replied Ollie. "Got up enough last night."
"Then build the fire while I get breakfast."
This pleased Ollie, and he soon had a good fire going. I caught Old
Blacky, who had started off to walk around the lake, woke up Old
Browny, who was sleeping peacefully with his nose resting on the
ground, quieted the pony, who was still suspicious, with a few pats on
the neck, and gave them all their oats. Soon the rest of us also had our
breakfast, including Snoozer, who seemed to wake up by instinct, and
after waiting a little for somebody to come and stretch him, stretched
himself, and began waving his tail to attract our attention to his urgent
need of food.
"Before we get back home that dog will want us to feed him with a
spoon," said Jack.
It was only a little while after sunrise when we were off for another
day's voyage. We were headed almost due south, and all that day and
the three or four following (including Sunday, when we stayed in
camp), we did not change our general direction. We were aiming to
reach the town of Yankton, where we intended to cross the Missouri
River and turn to the west in Nebraska. The country through which we
travelled was much of it prairie, but more was under cultivation, and
the houses of settlers were numerous. The land on which wheat or other

small grains had been grown was bare, but as we got farther south we
passed great fields of corn, some of it standing almost as high as the top
of our wagon-cover.
For much of the way we were far from railroads and towns, and got
most of our supplies of food from the settlers whose houses we passed
or, indeed, sighted, since the pony proved as convenient for making
landings as Jack had predicted she would. Ollie usually went on these
excursions after milk and eggs and such like foods. The different
languages which he encountered among the settlers somewhat
bewildered him, and he often had hard work in making the people he
found at the houses understand what he wanted. There Were many
Norwegians, and the third day we passed through a large colony of
Russians, saw a few Finns, and heard of some Icelanders who lived
around on the other side of a lake.
"It wouldn't surprise me," said Ollie one day, "to find the man in the
moon living here in a sod house."
Perhaps a majority--certainly a great many--of all these people lived in
houses of this kind. Ollie had never seen anything of the sort before,
and he became greatly interested in them. The second day we camped
near one for dinner.
"You see," said Jack, "a man gets a farm, takes half his front yard and
builds a house with it. He gains space, though, because the place he
peels in the yard will do for flowerbeds, and the roof and sides of his
house are excellent places to grow radishes, beets, and similar
vegetables."
"Why not other things besides radishes and beets?" asked Ollie.
"Oh, other things would grow all right, but radishes and beets seem to
be the natural things for sod-house growing. You can take hold of the
lower end and pull 'em from the inside, you know, Ollie."
"I don't believe it, Uncle Jack," said Ollie, stoutly. "Ask the rancher,"
answered Jack. "If you're ever at dinner in a sod house, and want

another radish, just reach up and pull one down through the roof, tops
and all. Then you're sure they're fresh. I'd like to keep a summer hotel
in a sod house. I'd advertise 'fresh vegetables pulled at the table.'"
"I'm going to ask the man about sod houses," returned Ollie. He went
up to where the owner of the house was sitting outside, and said:
"Will you please tell me how you make a sod house?"
"Yes," said the man, smiling. "Thinking of making one?"
"Well, not just now," replied Ollie. "But. I'd like to know about them. I
might want to build one--sometime," he added, doubtfully.
"Well," said the