Whatever's natural is plum wrong, that's the way she looks at it; but mind you, I ain't sayin' she's all in the right.

Naggin' ain't a virtue to my mind any mo' than drink is, but Jane, she can't see it that way, and there ain't a bit of use tryin' to make her.

She's soft, but she's mulish, and the hardest thing on earth to push is a mule that looks soft." "It's such a pity, but I suppose nothing will change her.

Tell me about mother." "Yo' ma looks downright po'ly.

What with her sickness and her bother about Jane and the bad weather, she ain't managin' to keep as spry as I'd like to see her.