Sexy Rescue Pt. 3 - Mr. Loftus and Frostbite are Bitches

I know Sexy Rescue Pt. 3 doesn't have a very sexy title but the resolution of the town saving is kind of unsavory, you might even say, yucky. Take this for example -

His (Almanzo) feet were bloodless-white and dead to the touch. Royal helped him rub them with snow, in the coldest corner of the room, until they began to tingle with a pain that made his stomach sick. Tired as he was, he could not sleep that night with the feverish pain of his feet.

Not hot, Almanzo. Though I am glad that you won't loose your feet. I'm sure that an 1880's prosthesis is like a potato with a hemp ankle strap and that's going to chafe after 16hrs of farm labor.

So after all that, the 18hour trek into the prairie, digging the horses out of the snow drifts, haggling with the lonely homesteader, and almost loosing all his toes and fingers, Almanzo doesn't even charge Mr. Loftus, the store keeper who fronted the greenbacks for this mission, a hauling charge. So noble, so self sacrificing, so handsome (once his feet heal).

Mr. Loftus on the other hand, not so much. First he's all like, 'A dollar 25 a bushel? That's not an awesome price for the only wheat anywhere within 3 zillion miles of this god forsaken tundra. If I was there I would have driven a much harder bargain.' Shut up dude, or next time you can go riding up to death's door with a burlap sack and your poker face. Geez.
Plus, YOU'RE WELCOME!

Once the blizzard that almost killed Almanzo and Cap blows over, Loftus spreads the word around De Smet that there's wheat and you don't have to die you can just come buy some. Then, in case you forgot what a dick he is, he goes and jacks the price up to 3 bucks a bushel! Not only is that a more than 100% return on his investment, the regular, non-blizzard market price for wheat is 78 cents per bushel. That friends, is what we call price gouging.

Loftus is all, supply and demand suckers, look into it! Didn't you ever take a 100 level econ class? But the townspeople, lacking in higher education, take a 'we'll just go ahead and kill you then' approach to economic theory.

Luckily Pa, even malnourished and dying, can still play the hero. He steps to the front of the hangry (hungry+angry) mob calming them with hand gestures and a soothing tone of voice. Then he lays a big old guilt trip with a side of cause and effect on Loftus. Think about it - if you screw over the townspeople this winter when they don't have a choice, then come spring nobody's going to have anything to do with you or your damn store. Plus they'll still probably kill you.

Chastened and a little scared for his life, Loftus throws up his hands and sells the wheat for his original investment of $1.25 per bushel. Cheers erupt, everyone get's their wheat. Indeed, no one needs to die. Great. The only thing is, there's still only bread to eat for the whole rest of the winter which is like 3 months. And the Ingalls have to grind the wheat all day long with a coffee grinder just to make the bread. Plus there still no coal or wood to burn, and they all have chilblains. Blech.

Boo! End already long winter!