public Byte getByte(String key, Byte defaultValue) {
    String value = getProperty(key);

    if (value == null) {
      return defaultValue;
    } else {
      try {
        return PropertyConverter.toByte(interpolate(value));
      } catch (ConversionException e) {
        throw new ConversionException('\'' + key + "' doesn't map to a Byte object", e);
      }
    }
  }