“Whom de Lord loveth, He chasteneth!” Mr. Mouth observed, “an’ dose bery words (ef you look) you will find in de twelfth chapter, an’ de sixth berse ob de Book ob Hebrews.”
“Prancing Nigger, you datways selfish! Always t’inkin ’ob your soul, instead ob your obligations towards de fambly.”
“Why, wha’ mo’ can I do dan I’ve done?”
Mrs. Mouth faintly shrugged.
“I had hoped,” she said, “dat Nini would hab bin ob use to de girls, but dat seem now impossible!” For Mrs. Snagg had been traced to a house of ill-fame, where, it appeared, she was an exponent of the Hodeidah—a lascive Cunan dance.
“Understand dat any sort ob intimacy ’tween de Villa an’ de Closerie des Lilas Ah must flatly forbid.”
“Prancing Nigger, as ef I should take your innocent chillens to call on po’ Nini; not dat eberyt’ing about her at de Closerie is not elegant an’ nice. Sh’o, some ob de inmates ob dat establishment possess mo’ diamonds dan dair betters do outside! You’d be surprised ef you could see what two ob de girls dair, Dinah an’ Lew....”
“Enuf!”
“It isn’t always Virtue, Prancing Nigger, dat come off best!” And Mrs. Mouth might have offered further observations on the matter of ethics, had not her husband left her.