Gypsy was used to taking situations in at glances. He instantly saw that the whole fabric of the Moonshiners was threatened, and he answered with great presence of mind,
“I am trying to steal a plum cake.”
“Wot for?” said Lionel.
“Because I could do with it,” said Gypsy engagingly. And it was true. Gypsy never paused to consider his interior without discovering that he could do with plum cake.
“’Ow were you thinking of stealing it?” asked Lionel.
“I was going to try to smash the window,” said Gypsy.
“I’m serprised at you,” said Lionel sternly. “Think of the row you’d ’ave made, and everybody tired out wanting their night’s rest.”
“I should have tried to smash it quietly,” said Gypsy.
“I’m serprised at you,” said Lionel still more sternly. “You might ’ave cut your pore ’and.”
He put his own hand in his pocket and gave Gypsy sixpence. “Now don’t you go making no more disturbances,” he said. “There’s a coffee stall up the street, second on the left. Move on.”