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and pow-wow over what we had done and how many people we had killed

and marked. But I couldn't see no profit in it. One time Tom sent a boy

to run about town with a blazing stick, which he called a slogan (which

was the sign for the Gang to get together), and then he said he had got

secret news by his spies that next day a whole parcel of Spanish

merchants and rich A-rabs was going to camp in Cave Hollow with two

hundred elephants, and six hundred camels,, and over a thousand "sumter"

mules, all loaded down with di'monds, and they didn't have only a guard of

four hundred soldiers, and so we would lay in ambuscade, as he called it,

and kill the lot and scoop the things. He said we must slick up our

swords and guns, and get ssssssssss

ready. He never could go ssssssssss

after even a turnip-cart but ssssssssss

he must have the swords and ssssssssss

guns all scoured up for it; ssssssssss

though they was only lath and ssssssssss

broom-sticks, and you might ssssssssss

scour at them till you rotted ssssssssss

and then they warn't worth a ssssssssss

mouthful of ashes more than ssssssssss

what they was before. I didn't ssssssssss

believe we could lick such a ssssssssss

crowd of Spaniards and A-rabs, ssssssssss

but I wanted to see the camels ssssssssss

and elephants, so I was on hand ssssssssss

next day, Saturday, in the ssssssssss

ambuscade; and when we got ssssssssss

the word, we rushed out of ssssssssss

the woods and down the hill. ssssssssss

But there warn't no Spaniards ssssssssss

and A-rabs, and there waru't no ssssssssss

camels nor no elephants. It ssssssssss

warn't anything but a Sunday-school picnic, and only a primer-class at

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