This chapter is pivotal in more than one way, and there’s so much said in just a few pages that to attempt to expound upon it all would be quite challenging. So I’ll just make a few comments, and let you all hash out the rest of it.
First, we pick up with the last frightening mile of the wheat journey, after the pause the last chapter created which only served to build tension in the first-time reader. Will Cap and Almanzo return safely to the town with the much-needed wheat, or will they perish in the blizzard that is chasing them across the prairie?
Laura has an amazing talent for causing the reader to feel intense emotions while the characters themselves remain seemingly nonchalant. “We’re in for it now,” is the most Cap or Almanzo either one have to say about the perilous situation they find themselves in.
When the two men do make it to town safely with the wheat, the reactions of the others are similarly dispassionate. Look at Loftus’ reaction. No rushing to the door to greet him, no excited reaction, no rejoicing that they made it back safely. He merely stands and says,  “So you boys made it; we figured you hadn’t.” And within seconds, his only emotion concerns the price that was paid for the wheat!
We know Loftus is somewhat of a scoundrel in this chapter, so could pass his reaction off as part of his character, but Royal’s reaction is pretty similar, and this is his own brother he must certainly have believed to be lost in the storm.
The motives behind the trip for each of the boys also come out a little more in this chapter. Almanzo tells Prince he saved the seed wheat. Clearly, Almanzo had no intention of letting people starve while he had wheat that could have saved their lives. This wasn’t about saving lives; those he would save regardless. It was about saving his wheat. His opportunity for future success, prosperity. It’s the “Farmer Boy” in his blood showing itself.
Cap says they made the trip for the fun of it. I would venture to guess that Cap’s family probably was in need of the food, and he likely made the trip at least in part for that purpose. But with a personality like Cap’s, I can’t imagine but that the adventure and danger of the trip is what made it so enticing for him.
I won’t make any political comments regarding what happens next — the scene where Loftus charges exorbitant rates for the wheat and Pa negotiates a better rate, and then the scene where the townspeople avoid a frenzied free-for-all and come to a fair distribution of wheat, by their own choice, willingly, not mandated by any leadership. But there are certainly plenty of conclusions to be drawn from this, and each reader may have a different interpretation of those, based on their own worldview and political thoughts. I’ll let you guys fight it out in the comments. 🙂  (Respectfully, of course!)
But no matter whether you agree with others’, or with Laura’s (or Rose’s) viewpoints or political beliefs, I think everyone will agree that this chapter, particularly these two final scenes, are nothing short of genius. If Laura is deficient in anything, it certainly isn’t critical thinking, logic, and reasoning skills.
This chapter is also the turning point of the book. Up until now, the overall theme has been survival, and the prospect has looked bleaker and bleaker as the winter has stretched on, and the food has run thin. Just this morning, the Ingalls family ate their final meal. If Cap and Almanzo had not returned with that wheat, there would be far more at stake for Laura and the family than the loss of these two outstanding young men.
But they did return, and at long last, we end a chapter on a positive hopeful note. That two bushels of wheat changes everything. Now for the first time since learning that there will be no trains till spring, there is hope.
They WILL survive this winter.