feet in height, clothed in washable garments of white and blue, who marched to meals under discipline of women who wore wide white starched hats—agents of the Juvenile Court had been the only persons who concerned themselves actively about Peewee. Who his father and mother had been he did not know. For business reasons, when asked his age, he answered ten; he was, as established by court records, probably not more than eight, and even for that age he was surprisingly small. The name Peewee, which he much preferred, had been given him by his associates in the orphanage because of this diminutive size; his other name, which he had carried officially since the age of three, had been manufactured in court for him, in order that he might have a name, his own not being known. He had run away from the asylum at the age of six. He had run away, within another year, from a "Boys' Home." His life since then had been a succession of confinements in various charitable institutions and of astute escapes. The means by which he provided for his existence, when the county or charity were
