petty

But the affair is a petty one, one of our little country crimes, which must seem too small for your attention, Mr.

Petty thefts, wanton assaults, purposeless outrage—to the man who held the clue all could be worked into one connected whole.

After all, that is nothing; petty larceny, six months at the most.

He had once been a skilful sculptor and had earned an honest living, but he had taken to evil courses and had twice already been in jail—once for a petty theft, and once, as we had already heard, for stabbing a fellow-countryman.