"Oh, yes, and then when you get into a better case again, I have no doubt but you have quite sufficient insolence to make you unbearable; besides, what employment can we have but pie-making, and we have a man already who suits us very well with the exception that he, as you would do if we were to exchange him, has grown insolent, and fancies himself master of the place."
The Stranger At Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop.
"Well, well," said the stranger, "of course, there is always sufficient argument against the poor and destitute to keep them so. If you will assert that my conduct will be the nature you describe, it is quite impossible for me to prove the contrary."
He turned and was about to leave the shop, but Mrs. Lovett called after him saying—
"Come in again in two hours."
He paused a moment or two, and then, turning his emaciated countenance upon her, said—
"I will if my strength permit me—water from the pumps in the street is but a poor thing for a man to subsist upon for twenty-four hours."
"You may take one pie."
The half-famished, miserable-looking man seized upon a pie, and devoured it in an instant.