Joseph
That blasted girl! We would have been down in our luck if she had seen
us.

Vautrin
You mean _you_ would have been down in your luck; you take pretty good
care not to be caught again, don't you? I suppose then that you enjoy
peace of mind in this house?

Joseph
That I do, for honesty I find to be the best policy.

Vautrin
And do you quite approve of honesty?

Joseph
Oh, yes, so long as the place and the wages suit me.

Vautrin
I see you are doing well, my boy. You take little and often, you save,
you even have the honesty to lend a trifle at interest. That's all
right, but you cannot imagine what pleasure it gives me to see one of
my old acquaintances filling an honorable position. You have succeeded
in doing so; your faults are but negative and therefore half virtues.
I myself once had vices; I regret them as things of the past; I have
nothing but dangers and struggles to interest me. Mine is the life of
an Indian hemmed in by my enemies, and I am fighting in defence of my
own scalp.

Joseph