protected Object handleMissing(Class type) {

        if (useDefault || type.equals(String.class)) {
            Object value = getDefault(type);
            if (useDefault && value != null && !(type.equals(value.getClass()))) {
                try {
                    value = convertToType(type, defaultValue);
                } catch (Throwable t) {
                    log().error("    Default conversion to " + toString(type)
                            + "failed: " + t);
                }
            }
            if (log().isDebugEnabled()) {
                log().debug("    Using default "
                        + (value == null ? "" : toString(value.getClass()) + " ")
                        + "value '" + defaultValue + "'");
            }
            return value;
        }

        ConversionException cex =  new ConversionException("No value specified for '" +
                toString(type) + "'");
        if (log().isDebugEnabled()) {
            log().debug("    Throwing ConversionException: " + cex.getMessage());
            log().debug("    " + DEFAULT_CONFIG_MSG);
        }
        throw cex;

    }