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