Charles Ingalls was a man to be admired. No matter what the circumstance, what ever obstacles that would stand in his way or the way of his loved ones, he would strive to overcome it. This is one such story that is a testament to his strong spirit and his dedication. Now the first obstacle to stand in their way was their large unpaid bill at Oleson's Mercantile, which Harriet never hesitated to remind them. As if that weren't bad enough, it turns out the construction company that Hanson shipped so much lumber to had gone bankrupt, so Mr. Hanson was out a lot of money and wood, and Charles was out two months' wages. Now what? Find another job, or a few menial jobs where he can make enough to pay off their bill and tell Harriet to take a flying leap. First, Charles managed to land a job cleaning the stables for Hans Dorfler, the blacksmith, for a quarter a day. Next he ventures out to see Baker Makay and offers to help him build a new pump mill, but since Makay wanted to wait until after winter to start on such a project, Charles offered to help him fix the one he's got. After figuring his upcoming wages, Charles estimated it would take three months to pay their bill. If it weren't for Harriet, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Kindly Nels was willing to extend credit, even though Charles' pride and principles strictly forbid credit. In the long run, that's a safe mode of thinking. Charles isn't in this alone. His family's got his back. Mary wanted to take a job helping Mrs. Whipple, the seamstress. Looks like the Ingallses have got it made.
Charles proceeds to work like he's never worked before, while Mary darned socks for the Whipple-meister, Caroline and Laura tended to the farm, and Carrie stayed out of the way. In addition to getting Makay's old pump mill working again, Charles agreed to dig an irrigation ditch to drain out all the old water. Very noble of him. Then it was off to Dorfler's to clean that filthy stable. Now with all this hard work, you'd think a man would reap a few rewards, right? Nope. The Ingalls found themselves out of sugar, out of tea, and worst of all, out of coffee. Even Laura, star student that she is, was unable to do her homework because she ran out of tablet paper. Miss Beadle offered to help by getting her paper in exchange for some chalk...whenever she would be able to acquire a generous quantity. As if the Ingallses didn't have enough trouble with the Olesons, there was Nellie and Willie ready to tease Laura about her family's present fiscal crisis. Did it stop there? No. This time Nellie went too far by insulting Charles, saying he smelled like a dirty old stable. Laura ran away in tears. Charles found his despondent Half Pint crying in the barn. He heard of her predicament and simply told her Nellie was full of it. So the next day at school when Nellie began to rip into Charles again, Laura finally summoned the courage to pound some sense into that hateful little bitch. Solving a problem the Ingalls way! Makay finally agreed to help Charles dig that ditch...why he waited so long I don't know, and Mary got a huge bonus from Mrs. Whipple: $1.70! So finally, the Ingallses had earned enough to pay their bill. They marched into the Mercantile and paid it in full, with enough left over for a few goodies. Harriet had herself a slice of humble pie and Nels proclaimed Charles Ingalls as the richest man in Walnut Grove.
Richest man in Walnut Grove is right. Charles is a hard worker with a loving family. If that don't make you rich, I don't know what does. Michael Landon really brings it home in this one, showing what a dedicated man Charles really can be. Nels would be rich too if he had a family like that. You have to wonder how Nels Oleson wound up with such a horrible wife and two rotten kids, but I guess that's another story. Now the plot of this episode is partially recycled from A Harvest of Friends, the first regular episode, in which Charles is up to his pectorals in debt and takes a second job to pay his expenses, only there the guy he's working for turns out to be a real douche and in the end, the whole town steps in to help him out. So to all Little House fans, I recommend both these episodes. Great stories with great characters, brought to life by great actors. It's not to be missed.
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