When Walnut Grove builds its very first bank, the cold and heartless Mr. Sprague settles in to run it. Charles tries to get on the man's good side right off the bat, but Mr. Sprague has been in the banking business long enough to sniff out these kinds of things, and after refusing to take the bait, he proceeds to turn Charles down flat when he requests an important loan.

Laura goes into a haunted house when Nellie dares her to do it. She becomes a friend of the old man that lives there, Mr. Pike. She finds out that he is waiting for his wife to return. After Laura learns that Mrs. Pike died years ago, she helps Mr. Pike cope with his wife's death.