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.
The 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."

[Illustration]

"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