burlap ticking
coarse material, like sacking, which covered the straw mattress.
vials
small glass jars and bottles
roaches
cockroaches
pants rabbits
lice, fleas etc.
swamper
cleaner
grey-backs
lice
my time
my pay for the time I have worked
tick
mattress cover
burned
angry
stable buck
the negro who looks after the stable
brang
brought
skinner
driver of a mule team (mule here means a type of horse)
took after
started a fight with
poop
energy
vest
waistcoat
Stetson
cowboy hat
a bum steer
false or misleading information
buckers
loaders
rassel
wrestle (lift and load)
grain-bags
bags of grain
put up
lift
what you sellin?
what is your interest in this?
buck
load
flapper
mouth
handy
a good fighter
take after
pick a fight with
scraps
fights
punk
American slang meaning a worthless person
game
brave
slough
cast off skin (He’d skin me)
canned
sacked, dismissed
solitaire
a card game for one player
purty
pretty
she got the eye
she’s a flirt
pants is full of ants
restless, uncomfortable
jerkline skinner
driver who can control a team of mules with a single rein to the lead animal
no set up
not a desirable place to be
sock
punch, hit
the can
sacked, dismissed
plug himself up
make a reputation for himself
trace chains
chains on the traces which harness a team of mules together
let ‘im have it
hit him hard
mules
backless, high-heeled shoes or slippers
bridled
lifted her head (she was aware of being looked at)
jail-bait
the sort of woman who could get a man sent to prison
take the rap
get the blame, suffer the consequences
two bits
a quarter, twenty five cents
in the poke
saved
pan gold
small nuggets of gold are sometimes found in river beds and can be washed out in shallow pans
a pocket
a vein of gold
the wheelers butt
the flank (rear end) of the lead animal
slang
gave birth to
in heat
ready for mating