Little House on the Prairie

Peterson, the new owner of the Feed & Seed, is undercutting Hanson's sale of flour by selling corn meal at less than half the price. Boulton is one of the farmers who takes advantage of the apparent good deal. Several days later, at the Ingalls, Laura is complaining of a toothache in one of her wisdom teeth so Pa takes her in to see Doc Baker. Boulton knocks on the door and tells the Doctor that his son has had a fever for two days so Doc promises to look in on him in the afternoon. Doc pulls Laura's tooth. Doc visits the Boulton place. While treating him, Sylvie collapses. Focus on the bag of corn meal with fleas crawling on it.

Doc Baker is packing ice around Paul Boulton when Eric Boulton calls to him. He checks Sylvie but she is dead. At church, Doc Baker announces Sylvie's death to the congregation and he urges a self-quarantine. He thinks the illness is typhus.

As Charles prepares to go hunting he tells the girls that typhus comes from fleas. Charles comes across a runaway wagon and manages to get it stopped. Inside are two sick people: another farmer and his wife. He takes them to Doc Baker's office. Doc Baker stops at the Ingalls on his rounds and promises to return in a couple of days. He returns to his office to find Charles and the two latest victims. After checking the victims, he confirms his earlier diagnosis. He decides to make the church into a hospital. He tells Charles to tell the Reverend but not to go near his family.

He stops by the Olesons and asks Nels to bring sheets and supplies to the church. He stops at home. From a distance he explains the situation. He returns to the church with the Reverend. Doc asks him to go to the Boultons and pick up the boy and then make the rounds of the farms and let everyone know about the hospital. The Doc tells the Rev to stop at the Olesons and pick up some shovels--they'll need to bury the dead. At the Boulton place, he finds the boy dead in his father's arms. He stops by Edwards' place. He is fine. He returns to church another victim, Tom Carter, the 11th. Doc Baker still doesn't know what is the source of the plague.

"A week went by. Pa came to see us every few days. He look tired and we knew Ma was worried. But she always smiled and pretended that she wasn't." The girls are anxious. Pa hasn't come by today like he promised. But he shows up. Their current situation reminds him of the days when he first began courting her. At the hospital, the Doc tells Charles they've had three more victims and they're running dangerously low on ice in the icehouse. He's surprised to see Edwards has become a victim.

Doc is still worried about finding the source--stating that if they don't find it--they have no chance of stopping it. Charles talking to Edwards finds out that he used some of Peterson's corn meal to make his corn dodgers and he tells Doc that he thinks he's found the source. He heads over to Peterson's to check. The shed is locked so he goes to the office and finds Peterson sick on a cot. He finds the key and they open the shed. Inside there are rats all over the corn meal. They burn the place to the ground.

"It was over, Pa said. He would stay in town and help Doctor Baker until the danger passed. We counted the days till he would come home." Doc Baker leaves a sulphur bomb in the church to purify it. Charles invites Edwards to join him at the homestead where they both receive a joyous welcome.