It is eleven o’clock at night as a large woman carrying a large purse slung over her shoulder walks down a deserted city street. Suddenly a boy dashes behind her and with one tug jerks the purse from her. Its weight throws him off balance and he falls, legs flying up. The woman calmly kicks him.

Pulling the boy up by his shirt and shaking him, the large woman demands that he return her pocketbook. When she asks if he is ashamed, the boy finally speaks. He answers yes and also denies that he meant to snatch the purse. Not deceived, the woman tells him that he lies, discovers that he has no one at home, and drags him off. Frightened, the boy begs to be released, but the woman simply announces her name: Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. The now sweating boy struggles desperately but finds the woman’s half nelson difficult to resist.

As they enter her furnished room, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones leaves the door open. She asks the boy’s name; he replies that it is Roger. Calling him by name, she tells him to wash his face, then turns him loose—at last. Roger...