Hickory (with judicious prudence): "Let's see 'em."

Patsey was off like a shot; his bare little red feet trembling under
him. In a few minutes he returned with an old-fashioned revolver known
as one of "Allen's pepper-boxes" and a large banana. He was at once
enrolled, and the banana eaten.

As yet they had resolved on no definite nefarious plan. Hickory, looking
down at Patsey's bare feet, instantly took off his own shoes. This bold
act sent a thrill through his companions. Wan Lee took off his cloth
leggings, Polly removed her shoes and stockings, but, with royal
foresight, tied them up in her handkerchief. The last link between them
and civilization was broken.

"Let's go to the Slumgullion."

"Slumgullion" was the name given by the miners to a certain soft,
half-liquid mud, formed of the water and finely powdered earth that
was carried off by the sluice-boxes during gold-washing, and eventually
collected in a broad pool or lagoon before the outlet. There was a
pool of this kind a quarter of a mile away, where there were "diggings"
worked by Patsey's father, and thither they proceeded along the ridge
in single file. When it was reached they solemnly began to wade in its
viscid paint-like shallows. Possibly its unctuousness was pleasant
to the touch; possibly there was a fascination in the fact that their
parents had forbidden them to go near it, but probably the principal
object of this performance was to produce a thick coating of mud on the
feet and ankles, which, when dried in the sun, was supposed to harden
the skin and render their shoes superfluous. It was also felt to be
the first real step towards independence; they looked down at their