Laura and Albert have started their own honey business. A swarm of bees have taken up residence in a log on the other side of the creek, and the Ingalls kids have at least 10 jugs of their sweet juice. Carrie wanted to help, but she wasn't allowed because bees stings are dangerous to such a young child and it would hurt her badly... I fail to see a down side. While in town, Caroline watched and laughed at Nellie fail to run her restaurant, when suddenly she's given a telegram for Adam. Mrs. Foster says it's good news, so it's apparent she reads other people's mail. Caroline takes it to the Kendalls and reads it, and it is good news! The National Association for Blind School Educators, or NABSE, has chosen Adam to receive the Louis Braille award, which unfortunately he said he couldn't accept because he couldn't afford the trip to St. Paul. Charles and Caroline didn't have the money either. Laura and Albert, on the other hand, looking at a cool $57.60 from Nels Oleson for their honey would suffice. They agreed to give it to Adam and Mary for their trip. When Charles and Caroline heard, you never saw two prouder parents. They decreed they would all ride over and tell the Kendalls the news...except for Carrie because.... she's Carrie. So it looks like everything is set, however when Laura and Albert went to sell the honey, old Heartless Harriet tried to gyp them. But as always, Albert had a plan. For the $57.60, he'd sell her the main hive, a lifetime supply of honey, with the proviso that she and Nellie pick it up themselves after sun up.
Adam and Mary were soon on their way in a rickety old stagecoach that the driver wishes he could replace (foreshadowing), as Harriet and Nellie arrive at the Ingallses' to pick up their ill-gotten gains. Albert and Laura couldn't help but laugh, because there was a little something they knew that the Olesons didn't: sun up can find bees in a very cranky mood, and when they received a rude awakening, they swarmed around Harriet and Nellie and stung them to death. En route to the train station, that old stagecoach finally gave out and the piece of junk toppled over a hillside. Adam, Mary and another passenger, a pregnant woman named Marge, miraculously survived the accident, but the driver was crushed to death and Adam's legs were pinned underneath the coach. Mary tried to lift the stagecoach, but obviously she couldn't. Word got back to Mrs. Foster that the stage was overdue and she informed Charles, who assumed the coach broke down and decided to ride out with Jonathan to pick them up. I hope they hurry, because as if the Kendalls didn't already have their own share of bad luck, Marge's water broke! Looks like it was up to Mary to find help. Shouldn't be too hard, they're lost in the middle of nowhere and she can't see a thing. She doesn't get very far, and worse yet, she loses her glasses. That's right, Caroline gave Mary her old glasses to take along... giving a blind woman glasses. Can you say cruel? As you may have expected, the sunlight refracted off the glass frames and ignited the dry brush. Add fire to their list of misfortunes of the day. However it was a blessing in disguise, because Charles and Jonathan saw the smoke from the road. Mary was rescued just in time, as were the others. They were rushed back to the blind school where Doc Baker saved Adam's legs and, despite her injuries, Marge had herself a bouncing baby boy, perfectly healthy. Charles was still puzzled as to how that fire got started...and thus, sun glasses were invented.
Three miracles in one instance, a regular trifecta of good fortune. Great episode with twists and turns and plenty of good moments. Melissa Sue Anderson really brought it home as Mary. I still can't understand why she complains about it so much. She wrote a book that basically put down Michael Landon and her tenure on the show. Well, some folks are just harder to please, but she was terrific, as were the other members of this stellar cast, except for Carrie. You're probably wondering why they never gave Carrie anything to do, and I have two words for you: The Godsister; that's Leslie Landon, Michael's daughter as Marge, who would join the cast in Season 9 as Etta Plum. If you like Mary, you like stories about people in peril, The Third Miracle is for you. And as for Harriet and Nellie getting what was coming to them by swindling that hive, let's just say that revenge is sweet as honey.
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