But howsumever she never could take a mite of care of her
children, they wuz brought up on wet nurses, and bottles, etc.,
etc., and wuz rather weakly, some on 'em. The nurses, wet and
dry ones both, used to gin 'em things to make 'em sleep, and
kinder yank 'em round and scare 'em nights to keep 'em in the
bed, and neglect 'em a good deal, and keep 'em out in the brilin'
sun when they wanted to see their bows; and for the same reeson
keepin' em out in their little thin dresses in the cold, and
pinch their little arms black and blue if they went to tell any
of their tricks. And they learnt the older ones to be deceitful
and sly and cowerdly. Learnt 'em to use jest the same slang
phrases and low language that they did; tell the same lies, and
so they wuz a spilin' 'em in every way; spilin' their brains with
narcotics, their bodies by neglect and bad usage, and their minds
and morals by evil examples.

You see some nurses are dretful good. But Miss Flamm's health
bein' so poor and her mind bein' so took up with fashion, dogs,
etc., that she couldn't take the trouble to find out about their
characters and they wuz dretful poor unbeknown to her. She had
dretful bad luck with 'em, and the last one drinked, so I have
been told.

Yes, it made it dretful bad for Miss Flamm that her health was so
poor, and her fashionable engagements so many and arduous that
she didn't have the time to take a little care of her children
and the dog too. For you could see plain, by the care that she
took of that dog, what a splendid hand she would be with the
children, if she only had the time and health.