Finally, Goodlaw asked:--
"What is your occupation, Mr. Craft?" and Craft answered: "I have no
occupation at present, except to see that this boy gets his rights."
"What was your occupation during the time that this boy lived with
you?"
"I was a travelling salesman."
"What did you sell?"
"Jewelry, mostly."
"For whom did you sell the jewelry?"
"For myself, and others who employed me."
"Where did you obtain the goods you sold?"
"Some of it I bought, some of it I sold on commission."
"Of whom did you buy it?"
"Sometimes I bought it at auction, or at sheriff's sales; sometimes of
private parties; sometimes of manufacturers and wholesalers."
Goodlaw rose to his feet. "Now, as a matter of fact, sir," he said,
sternly, "did not you retail goods through the country that had been
furnished to you by your confederates in crime? and was not your house
in the city a place for the reception of stolen wares?"
Craft's cane came to the floor with a sharp rap. "No, sir!" he
replied, with much indignation; "I have never harbored thieves, nor
sold stolen goods to my knowledge. You insult me, sir!"
Goodlaw resumed his seat, looked at some notes in pencil on a slip of
paper, and then resumed the examination.
"Did you send this boy out on the streets to beg?" he asked.
"Well, you see, we had pretty hard work sometimes to get along and get
enough to eat, and--"
"I say, did you send this boy out on the streets to beg?"
"Well, I'm telling you that sometimes we had either to beg or to
starve.
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