- Laura Ingalls is stunned to learn that her amiable fishing friend is none other than Walnut Grove's new banker, miserly Ebenezer Sprague, and heartbroken when he accuses her of becoming his friend to secure a loan for her family.
- Walnut Grove is expanding as Charles Ingalls and Lars Hanson construct the small community's first bank.
It isn't long before the banker named Ebenezer Sprague arrives. However, he is soon seen as a very exasperating man.
He withholds a portion of payment for the bank as it was not completed upon his arrival, and turns down Charles' dinner invitation, suspecting there is something behind the offer.
The next date, Charles and his wife Caroline return to town. When she goes to the Oleson's Mercantile and mentions Mr Sprague, Mrs Oleson accompanies Caroline to check up on Charles, who has gone in to see about getting a loan to purchase 40 more acres for farmland.
However, his request is denied (though Sprague says he'll think about it), and Mrs Oleson is humiliated when she finds out that the banker is not a man of high education as she first assumed (he dropped out of school in the third grade, and fancies himself a self-made man).
The next day, Laura takes the family dog Jack when she goes fishing. Jack suddenly rushes at a horse-drawn cart, scaring the horse and causing it to plunge buggy and rider into a tree. Laura apologizes for Jack, but the well-dressed man just stuffily heads on his way.
Shortly afterwards, Laura finds the man where she was intending to fish. She tries to make friendly conversation, but is rebuked. Laura's use of balled-up bread dough nets her a number of fish, and she even offers some of her bait, but is rebuked again. In the end, she politely leaves with her catch.
The next day, a number of women in town meet with Ms Beadle the schoolteacher, and agree to take up a collection so each child can have their own book to study with. Caroline attempts to ask Mr Sprague for a donation, but he refuses.
Later on that day, Laura finds the man from the previous day back at the fishing spot (though sitting where she sat the previous day!). After some time, he gives in and accepts her offer of the dough balls for bait, and actually ends up catching a number of fish! This puts him in good spirits, as he offers Laura a ride back close to her home, and shares a little bit of information about himself (though not his name, nor does Laura tell him hers).
At dinner, Laura tells about her new fishing friend, and Caroline wonders if he might be willing to contribute to the books fund.
Laura takes this to heart and brings it up the next day when fishing. Her friend feels that poor people won't work hard if given things, but Laura claims this isn't true, and even impresses the man when she quotes from Ralph Emerson, whom Pa reads from.
After school the next day, the man rides by and Laura greets him, before Nellie Oleson tells her that she just greeted Mr Sprague, the banker.
Laura goes to the fishing spot and confronts Mr Sprague, upset that he didn't tell her his name. When she tells him who she is, Sprague gets defensive, and claims that Laura was attempting to just help get her father's loan approved. Laura denies this, and rushes off upset that he would think such a thing of her.
The next date, Charles Ingalls confronts Sprague for upsetting his daughter, who just wanted a friend to fish with. His words cause the banker to ponder some things well into the night.
Some days later, some men deliver a box to Ms Beadle at the church, containing all the books she was requesting, along with a book of "The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson," leading Laura to smile widely.
After school, she rushes back to the fishing spot where she finds Mr Sprague, and thanks him for what he did.
The two agree to keep Mr Sprague's donation a secret, but he does accept Laura's invite to dinner, where Caroline cleans and prepares the fish he caught. Mr Sprague also approves the loan Charles requested.
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