Introduction: Army of children on the loose -- Rugged individualists -- When school was out -- I knew I'd made a mistake -- Wrong side of the tracks -- In harm's way -- Bitter harvest -- New deal for youth -- Catching out: Camelot crashed and burned -- There was never any money -- Go fend for yourself -- Scenery bums -- Boxcar girls -- Hopping their first freight -- Interviews: John Fawcett, 1936 -- Arvel Pearson, 1930-42 -- Phoebe Eaton DeHart, 1938 -- Hard travelin': Face into the wind -- Fellow travelers -- Danger ahead -- See America first-travel by rail -- Black road kids -- Bulls -- Interviews: Rene Champion, 1937-41 -- Clarence Lee, 1929-31 -- Tiny Boland, 1934 -- Hitting the stem: Hoover's prodigal children -- Hungry times -- Hallelujah, I'm a bum -- Kindness of strangers -- Have pity on the boy -- Good place for a handout -- Mean streets -- In the jailhouse -- Bughouse hotel -- Jungle -- Interviews: James San Jule, 1930-32 -- Jan van Hee, 1937-38 -- Clydia Williams, 1932-35 -- Way out: Looking for work -- Fire fighters -- Keep on moving -- For richer, for poorer -- Vagrant ambition -- Harvest tramps -- Cotton pickers -- Tree army -- Last ride -- End of an era -- Rite of passage -- Lessons of the road -- Interviews: Charley Bull, 1930 -- Jim Mitchell, 1933 -- Robert Symmonds, 1934-42 -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index.