Grif's candid statement appeared to perplex the great merchant. He paused a little before he said,--
"You were a thief, then?"
"When I couldn't get nothin' to eat for nothin', I took it," returned Grif, uncompromisingly; "I wasn't a-goin' to starve."
"Starve!" exclaimed Mr. Blemish, lifting up his hands in pious wonderment. "Starve! In this land of plenty!"
"It ain't a land of plenty to me; I wish it was."
"Really," observed Mr. Blemish, to surrounding space, "the unblushing manner in which such ragamuffins as this give the lie to political economists is positively frightful. Do you believe in statistics, boy?"
"Not as I knows on," said Grif.
"Did you expect a situation here?" inquired Mr. Blemish, looking down upon the lad, as if wondering what business he had in the world.
"No."
"Why did you come, then?"