The man did not answer, and Philip asked him again. The reply came in a tone of bitter emphasis that made the minister start:
"Yes, I knew it! I would strave[sic] before I would go to the Poor
Commissioners for food."
"Or steal?" asked Philip, gently.
"Yes, or steal. Wouldn't you?"
Philip stared out into the darkness of the court and answered honestly:
"I don't know."
There was a short pause. Then he asked:
"Can't you get work?"
It was a hopeless question to put to a man in a town of over two thousand idle men. The answer was what he knew it would be:
"Work! Can I pick up a bushel of gold in the street out there? Can a man get work where there ain't any?"
"What have you been doing?"