"Can't say I ever did, brother, but it would do."

"And how did you ever learn such a method of proceeding?"

"Why, 't is advised by gypsy liri, brother. It's part of our way
of settling difficulties amongst ourselves; for example, if a young
Roman were to say the thing which is not respecting Ursula and
himself, Ursula would call a great meeting of the people, who would
all sit down in a ring, the young fellow amongst them; a coko would
then put a stick in Ursula's hand, who would then get up and go to
the young fellow, and say, 'Did I play the--with you?' and were he
to say 'Yes,' she would crack his head before the eyes of all."

"Well," said I, "Ursula, I was bred an apprentice to gorgio law,
and of course ought to stand up for it, whenever I conscientiously
can, but I must say the gypsy manner of bringing an action for
defamation is much less tedious, and far more satisfactory, than
the gorgiko one. I wish you now to clear up a certain point which
is rather mysterious to me. You say that for a Romany chi to do
what is unseemly with a gorgio is quite out of the question, yet
only the other day I heard you singing a song in which a Romany chi
confesses herself to be cambri by a grand gorgious gentleman."

"A sad let down," said Ursula.

"Well," said I, "sad or not, there's the song that speaks of the
thing, which you give me to understand is not."

"Well, if the thing ever was," said Ursula, "it was a long time
ago, and perhaps, after all, not true."