Crows & Cards (31 page)

purser

person on a ship who collects tickets from passengers.

Q

quicksilver

Another name for mercury, which at room temperature is a silver liquid that's runny and toxic.

quill

Before ballpoint pens, people used quills to write. They were bird feathers sharpened on the end and dipped into ink.

R

rackabones

Horse so skinny that it doesn't look healthy—nothing but a
rack of bones.

ragamuff

Zeb's mispronouncing
ragamuffin,
which is a child dressed in rags and needing a bath and good meal.

ragging

Tormenting or teasing.

rail

To disapprove of someone or something with strong, harsh words.

railroad

To be convicted of committing a crime without a fair trial or sometimes without a trial at all.

rapscallion
(rap-SKAL-yen)

Rascal. The word comes from modifying the word
rascal
and adding a fancy ending.

rawhide

To tease mercilessly. The word comes from the use of a rope made of rawhide to whip someone.

Red River

There are two Red Rivers of note in the United States. One flows north along the Minnesota-North Dakota border all the way into Canada. The other flows east along the Oklahoma-Texas border, then across Arkansas and Louisiana and eventually to the Mississippi River. It's this second Red River that Zeb is referring to.

redskin

An American Indian. The word is most often used in a mean-spirited way. The usage comes from the color of an American Indian's skin.

restorative

Something that restores your health.

rheumatic pains
(roo-MAT-ick)

Pain of the muscles and joints. Often called arthritis.

riffraff

People with very poor reputations.

row

Noisy fight.

A poker hand that goes ten, jack, queen, king, ace, with all cards being the same suit. It's the highest possible hand. If two players have a royal flush at the same time, they split the pot (or winnings).

royal flush

S

San Carlos

Town on the Missouri River that today is known as St. Charles. Goose Nedeau calls it by its old Spanish name.

sapua sapua
(suh-POO-uh)

Translates as "seven, seven" (a pair of sevens). It is from the Hidatsa language. The Hidatsa are an Indian tribe that lived on the upper Missouri River in the 1840s. They still live in the same general area, which today is part of North Dakota.

sarsaparilla
(sass-puh-RILL-uh)

Sweet drink made from the dried root of the sassafras tree and flavoring from birch trees.

sawing wood

Snoring.

schoolmarm

Woman schoolteacher in a rural or small-town school.

Shanghai chicken
(shang-HIGH)

Type of chicken popular on the frontier.

shebang

Everything that's under consideration.

shell out

To pay for something, used particularly if you feel you're paying too much for it.

shut

In this instance, to get clear or free of something.

sic

To urge one person (or animal) to attack or pursue someone else.

side-wheeler

Steamboat with paddle wheels on the sides of the boat instead of the back.

sight

Not only meaning what you can see, the word can also mean a large quantity.

skedaddle
(skuh-DAD-uhl)

To run away fast.

skinflint

Someone who's so cheap, he or she pinches pennies till they scream.

smack

Directly or sharply, often used in the phrase
smack in the middle.

smithereens

Tiny bits.

smokehouse

Small cabin where fresh meat is hung to cure. The cabin is filled with a thick smoke that preserves and flavors the meat. In a time without refrigeration, this was an important way to prevent meat from spoiling.

soddies

Frontier houses built of sod. Used on the prairie, with lots of bugs for pets.

Spanish brown wash

Reddish brown wash or paint.

specs

Short for
spectacles,
which is another way of saying
eyeglasses.

spell

In this case, the word refers to a period of time, not a magical incantation.

sphinx

Monster of ancient Egyptian and Greek legends. The Egyptian sphinx had a man's head and lion's body. The Greek sphinx in Thebes had a woman's head and lion's body and killed anyone who couldn't answer its riddle:

What is four-footed in the morning,
two-footed at noon,
three-footed in the evening?

The answer is
man,
who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in adulthood walks erect, and in old age uses a cane.

spitter

Apple that is too sour to eat—one bite and you spit it out.

spittoon

Bowl or urn for spitting in. When tobacco chewing was all the rage and men didn't mind what kind of juice was dribbling down their chins, chewers needed somewhere to spit when in polite company.

split-bottom chair

Chair with a seat made from split logs.

squire

A medieval manservant who carried a knight's shield and sword.

St. Jerome

Patron saint of orphans. His full name is St. Jerome Emiliani. He lived in Italy (1481–1537) and devoted his life to the care of orphans.

St. Joe

Short for St. Joseph, Missouri, a town on the Missouri River that was one of the starting points for settlers heading west.

staghorn knife

Knife with a handle made from a stag's horn (a stag is a male deer).

star-crossed

Describes something not favored by the stars—unlucky.

stateroom

A sleeping room on a steamboat. Each room is named after a different state of the union. They are generally small and cramped but luxurious when compared to deck passage, where people camp out on the open deck with livestock and one another.

steerage

If you don't have money for a stateroom (see above), you might be able to afford a ticket on steerage. It got its name from being near the boat's rudder, which
steers
the ship.

stove works

Factory that makes stoves.

straight

A poker hand where all the cards are consecutive (or in order) but of different suits. An example would be the two of hearts, three of spades, four of diamonds, five of clubs, and six of hearts.

strap

A strip of leather often used for whippings.

straw tick

Crinkly mattress filled with straw.

stretcher

In this case, a story that stretches the truth considerably.

T

tanner

Someone who tans animal hides to change them into leather. This is done by treating the hide with chemicals.

tar and feathering

Frontier punishment. The person was covered with hot tar and then sprinkled with feathers that stuck to the tar. Very unhealthy and possibly fatal.

tarnation

Polite way of saying
damnation.

taters

Potatoes.

telegraph

Before the telephone there was the telegraph. Invented in 1835 by Samuel Morse, it was a machine that allowed people who were far apart to communicate by sending a series of clicks over electrical wires. By 1849 telegraph wires had spread as far west as St. Louis, where they were briefly halted until a way could be figured out to string a line across the Mississippi River.

tenpenny nail

Nail that is three inches long. When this nail was first made in the 1400s, you could buy one hundred of them for ten pennies. The price has gone up considerably since then, but the name remains the same today.

ten pin

Early form of bowling.