<p>The story centers on Maggie, a young girl from the Bowery who is driven to unfortunate circumstances by poverty and solitude. The story opens with Jimmie, Maggie's brother, as he fights a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood. He is saved by his friend, Pete, and comes home to a brutal and drunken father. As years pass and their father dies, Jimmie hardens into a sneering, aggressive, cynical youth and Maggie begins to work in a shirt fac...