Little House on the Prairie S06E17 Silent Promises

Look it. Firecrackers. We could scare old man Dunsworth with them when he comes out of the bank. No, I don't want to. Come on. He's an old grouch. Well, I know that. But he's old and he can't help it. Look, my mom went out to Mrs. Foster's house after lunch. She left a big supply of licorice behind the counter. And if you come, I'll let you have some. What are we waiting for? We'll be right back. Okay. Hey, John. I want to keep a lookout for Pa. Lose something, Willie? Oh, hi, Pa. No, um, I just wanted to show Albert something in the catalog. Well, it's right there on the counter in front of you. Oh, thanks. Ah, see this train set here? Don't get any wild ideas, Willie. That train set is way over our budget. Yes, sir. Albert, keep your eyes peeled. Your ma could walk in any minute. Right. I don't believe it. She's back already? No. Look at this. A canine sanction for your pet's personal habitation and privacy. You scared me half to death for a dumb doghouse. I think it's a great idea. Bandit would love it. That prize. You better. I found it. You know, I could have built one of these myself. Easy. I'm going to go right over to the mill and see if they have some scrap lumber. Hey, you don't come with me. No licorice. Oh, right, Willie. No licorice. I wouldn't want to take anything without asking your father first. Willie? I'll just bring you some licorice, Pa. Willie! Now you stay here. You better get him to Doc Baker. Doc? Your son's fine, Nathan. Are you sure, Doc? We just got the wind knocked out. Thank God. I should never have brought him to town. He can't hear, he can't think. Oh, now, wait a minute, Nathan. I know he can't hear, but as to his thinking, now that's something else again. Now, come on, Doc. He's like a helpless baby. All babies learn. They just need teaching. Now, Daniel's special, so he needs special teaching. Now, don't start in on me about that again. I'm just a farmer and I do the best I can. I'm sure you are. Can I take him home now? Certainly. I'll bring your rig down here for you. Dr. Baker? Hmm? What kind of teaching do you need? Well, first he has to learn to communicate. Now, they can do that with sign language. You know, using the hands and the fingers. Well, do you know how to do that? No, I don't. But I got some books on it somewhere. Thanks again, Laura. You too, Doc. You bet, Nathan. Here they are. I got them a while back. Hoping Nathan would work with his son. But he just felt it was a waste of time. Do you think maybe I could read them? Sure. Here, take them with you. Thanks, Doc. You're welcome. Bye-bye. That's quite a project you got there, son. Yeah. Wait till you see it. Dad's gonna love it. He'll be able to sleep better when he's quiet. Man's sakes. Every time I think of Laura running in front of that runaway horse. What was I supposed to do? I'm just glad I didn't see it. I must say I feel sorry for our poor boy. It's a shame they can't do something to help him. Well, maybe someone will. I think I'll go to bed. Good night, Mom. Good night, love. Good night, Mom. Good night. Good night, Mom. Good night. You too, little one. And take your family with you. I've been stepping on dolls all day. Good night, Mom. Mom, any cookies left? In the kitchen. You know, Albert, you're right. Poor dog can't sleep with all this racket going on. It won't hurt anything, Mr. Page. Please? It's kind of you to offer, Laura. But you're just a child. And Doc Baker said it takes special training for him. Well, I'm a teacher. At least I'm going to be. And I'm willing. You got someone better in mind? It's a waste of time. It's God's will for my boy to be the way he is. It's my time I'm wasting. And God gave us our own wills. Just give me a chance, please? I still say you're wasting your time. But if you're that determined... I am. When do you want to start? Tomorrow morning. All right. Thanks, Mr. Page. Would you ask Albert to hold off until tomorrow? This baby's got to get some sleep. Yes, darling. Albert, quitting time. Okay, Pa. Lesson plans? Yeah, for tomorrow. Pa, it's so exciting. I have to stop by the Wilders' this morning and tell Miss Wilder that I've got my first student. You're going to stop by and tell Miss Wilder? Yeah. Or you could do that in school on Monday. I know. I wonder if Almanzo's going to be there. I wouldn't know. Difference would it make anyway. Why would you want to go all the way over there just to tell Almanzo you're a grown-up teacher lady now? What's that face for? I love you. Go on, give me a lesson. Laura, what do you think? Starting to look pretty good, huh? Look at how big it is inside. Albert, no dog in his right mind is going to want to sleep in that box. Well, nobody asked you, and it's not a box. And how come you smell like maw? None of your beeswax. Bet you're going to see Almanzo. I'm going to see Miss Wilder. Oh, sure, Miss Wilder. Well, it's true. It is not. You don't care how you smell for Miss Wilder. I sit next to you every day in class. I know how you smell. That's disgusting. It sure is. And so's your dumb doghouse. Why'd I ever have to have a girl for a sister? Hi. Here we go. Good morning. Window. Window. Yes. See. Door. No, not window. Door. Yes, door. Good. Chair. Oh, perfume. Perfume. Perfume. Perfume. Perfume. Yes, perfume. Okay, let's see what you remember. Come on. Good. Okay, come on. No, door. No. Oh, well. Nobody said it was gonna be easy. Mars says I'm crazy. Bet you won't like it. But we know better, don't we? Not even the wish book has a doghouse like this. Albert, Mars says it's time for supper. Okay, I'll be right there. Who were you talking to? Nobody here but Bandit. Bandit can't talk. He's a dog. He talks to me. I gotta go wash up. Hello? All right, I won't talk to you either. Enjoy. Feel. Funny. Happy. Mad. Sad. You did it. You did it! All right. Coffee for father. How'd you do that? It's sign language. Let me show you. I can't see without my glasses. Wait. Spectacles for father. See? He saw you open the book. He knows I can't read without them. Mr. Page, what does it take to convince you? Don't you want him to understand you? I've been living with him for 15 years, Laura. Next thing you'll tell me he can hear. In his own way, he can. You ask him something. How? What do you want to ask him? Tell him to show me his mother's picture. Okay. You do this. Show me... mother's... picture. Show me... mother's... picture. Dear God. This is only the beginning, Mr. Page. Someday he'll even be able to read and write. What do you want to say to him? I want to tell him I love him. Do this. I... love... you. I... love... you. thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Hurry up. I've got breakfast cooking. It'll just take a second. Hurry up, everybody. Come on. That'll be the giant doghouse. Here we go. Come on. Let's go see Vanna's new house. Stand back. Ta-da! It's adorable. That's a real professional job, son. Come on, Bennett. I know you can't wait, boy. Come on. Come on, boy. In you go. Come on, Bennett. It's all yours now. Come on. Awful excited about it, isn't he? He's just got to get used to the idea. That's all. It's all done, Bennett. You can go in now. Come on, boy. While he's getting used to it, I'm going to finish getting breakfast. Oh, I'll be right in. Come on, boy. This is your new house. We'll see you in a little while. Come on, boy. It's nice and big. Don't you want to see the inside? Come on. Come here, boy. Come on. This is your house now. Come here, Bennett. Come see the inside. Come here, Bennett. Don't you want to see your new house? Your home, sweet home? Here it is, Bennett. Okay, Bennett. See? Follow me, Bennett. See where I'm going? Nice and warm in here. Come on, Bennett. Come here, boy. Ah, hello, Laura. Good afternoon, Daniel. Good afternoon, everyone. What would you like? The gumballs are two for a penny, right, Mrs. Olsen? Oh, um, yes. Two for a penny. How do you know that? I just told him. His money's good, Mrs. Olsen. You're doing a wonderful job, Laura. Thank you. But Daniel's doing most of the work. We'd better get going. Give my best to your family. I will. He said see you later. Oh! Um... Ah! That is the strangest thing I have ever seen. Made me nervous seeing his fingers all wiggling around like that. I think it's wonderful that he can communicate. Well, I say it's not natural. Heavens, if God had wanted me to talk with my hands, he wouldn't have given me a mouth. Even God can make a mistake. Now it's time to study. What? It's beautiful. It was your mother's. Careful you don't lose it. No! I couldn't. Daniel, someday when you get married, you will want to give it to the girl you love. I love you, too, but... Stop it! Stop! Daniel, steady. Steady. Oh, hey, Beth. Hi. Why the sad face? Come on, nothing can be that bad. Worse. Nothing's going right. Well, something must be going right. Chain and ring? Haven't seen that before. It's just from a friend. You're not getting serious at your age, are you? What if I am? I'm not a baby, you know. Come on, I'm your friend, remember? I remember. Ready, Manny? Hi, Sarah. I've been waiting for you. You know Laura Ingalls? Of course. Been taking care of him for me? Always does. My favorite girl, right? Cheer up, you hear? Things are gonna get better. I thought you'd never get here. I'm starved. Is he home? Won't do any good. Might as well burn those books. What happened between you two? Nothing I can't fix. Well, he's in the pasture. Thanks. Bandit, please, just try it, Bandit. Now, I worked hard building this house. If you try it, I know you'll like it. See, this is all for you. It's almost ten o'clock. I told you it's five more minutes. Oh, please, Paul, just a little bit longer. I think he's gonna try it. All right, five more minutes. Okay, thanks, Paul. Five minutes, Bandit, okay? Okay, now watch me. I'm gonna be you. I'm Bandit. Look, I'm gonna be you, yes. See, I'm Bandit. See, I like this. And we're gonna show Laura Hartley. Yeah, we're gonna show her you can do it. Watch, I'm you, Bandit. See, and I like this, yeah. This is nice and warm and comfortable. Now, I worked so hard on it, Bandit, just try it once. You're gonna like it. Albert? Albert! Yeah, Paul? What are you doing out here so early, son? I was just showing Bandit how nice his house was. I thought you did that last night. I know. I kind of fell asleep. What, you and Bandit slept out here all night? Oh, of course not. Just me. Charles? Yeah? Have you seen Laura this morning? No, I haven't. Albert, did she say anything to you? I don't think Albert's gonna be of much help. I'll see if I can find her. Albert, come on and get some clothes on. Yes, ma'am. What a grateful dog. It's not Saturday, young lady. You ought to be getting to school. I know. Just thought I'd be alone for a while so I could think. Pa, I feel so awful. Daniel, huh? Yeah. I don't know what to do. I mean, if you love someone, really loved him, and you just knew that that person didn't feel the same way about you, well, what I mean is, if you couldn't have the person that you loved, wouldn't it be good to make someone that loves you happy? Share your life with them? Help them? Sharing your life with someone's fine. But you gotta love them. You can't pretend to feel something you don't feel. How can I tell him, Pa? How can I make him understand without hurting him? I don't think there's any way you can do it without hurting him. But it'll pass. He'll give up his studies. I know he will. If he does, it's his own fault, because he's doing it out of spite. But, Pa, he's... He's deaf. It's all the more reason he needs his studies, not your pity. Look, if you want to be a teacher, young lady, you're going to have to be a lot tougher with your students, and a lot more honest. Well, I guess I'll go tell him now before school. I want to get it over with. All right. I made a mistake. I said that I would wear your ring. But it was wrong. You are very special to me. But I don't love you. I wanted you to learn. But not for me. For you. I am your teacher. No. I am your friend. But only a friend. Daniel. You don't know any others but me. You will meet others. No. I'm sorry. Daniel. It's your life. You want to learn. I'll teach you. It's up to you. Goodbye, Daniel. I have the tests graded here. Laura, would you hand them out? Laura. I'm not saying the results were bad. But if this class ran the government, we'd be in a state of anarchy. Is that near Massachusetts? Willie, the corner. Now, since the entire class did so poorly, I'm going to allow you all to take the test again on Friday. I hope to see better results. Class dismissed. Laura, are you all right? Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm fine. You're sure? I'm sure. Miss Wilder, have you ever had a student fall in love with you? Oh, how kind of you to ask. But no. Oh. Well, see you tomorrow. Willie, clean the board. Why, answer me. Do you know why she lied? Oh, I know. She lied. Because you're deaf. And she felt sorry for you. Just as I did. I kept you away from folks so that they wouldn't hurt you. We both made a mistake. And we both corrected it. Now it's up to you. Ask her to teach you again. Yes. I'm not treating you as a deaf child anymore. You're just a child. You've got a teacher. And you're gonna learn. It's the same as any other child that goes to school. Daniel, she showed me how to tell you that I love you. And I do love you. And I can treat you just like any other child. Thanks to her. God sent her to us, boy. Don't turn your back in spite. But don't tell me that you love me. Show me. Learn. But Ma, if I'd been a better teacher... Oh, the mistake you made had nothing to do with teaching. It's doing so well. We're all responsible for our own lives, Laura. You'll find out when you start teaching school you can't get through to all your students. But you can't blame yourself. Laura? Yes, sir? Daniel's here. Go on, teacher. And don't make the same mistake twice. Thanks, Ma. Go on. I'm sorry, too. Yes, I'll be your teacher. When do you want to start? She says she wants to start right now. Get going, teacher. Child's grown up. Daniel came back, and he did learn. And so did I. I learned that a student has an obligation to himself that is as great or greater than a teacher's obligation to a student.