Chapters 1 through 4 Summary

Twelve-year-old Charley Quinn is on his way home through the Bowery when he encounters a boy named Tom Bailey. Charley is a member of the street gang known as the Bowery Boys and Tom is a member of a rival gang known as the Dead Rabbits. The two gangs have a history of fighting. Charley's older brother, Johnny, was a member of the Bowery Boys in 185 when the two gangs had clashed violently. But Johnny can't help Charley now because he was killed in the Civil War in the battle at Gettysburg, serving with the 140th New York Veterans Volunteers. Charley knows there will be no help from his fellow gang members who are all busy at a nearby arcade. Charley is dressed in his best clothes because he's been making deliveries for his sister, Noreen. Noreen runs a business sewing...