Where there's muck, there's luck

Where there's muck, there's luck is the saying the Mother Superior offers when Bill Furlong worries that he and the girl are making tracks on the convent floor. Her response dismisses his apology and recasts the dirt as compatible with good fortune, giving the phrase a small but telling role in a scene of practical welcome.

Use in the Scene

Bill Furlong notices the tracks and remarks on them as the Mother Superior leads the group along a tiled corridor. She answers that it does not matter, then uses the saying. The exchange is brief: his attention is on the mess they are making, while hers is on getting them onward without embarrassment.

Meaning and Function

The phrase turns an untidy circumstance into an occasion for reassurance. Rather than treating the tracks as a breach that requires correction, the Mother Superior makes light of them and keeps moving. In context, the saying suits her immediate hospitality: she leads them to a warm room and offers to take care of the girl and arrange tea. Its force lies in this modest shift of emphasis, from the floor’s cleanliness to the people being received.