During the Great Depression, thirteen-year-old Charles (Charlie) Fallon runs around New York City. He pretends the city is a battlefield and throws snowballs that he pretends are grenades. He imagines that he has found a million dollars, but when he goes to the candy story he doesn't even have a penny for a lollipop. He leaves the store to go home and get some money. On his way, he sees Old Man Sheehy, who lives with Charlie's family, get on a bus and drop a fifty-cent piece into a subway grille. As the bus leaves, the Old Man tells Charlie that if he finds it, he will give him a dime. Charlie plans to retrieve the money, keep it for himself, and tell the Old Man he couldn't find it. He returns home to ask his mother for three pennies so he can buy some gum and make a contraption to get the money out of the grille. His mother can only give him two pennies, and she mourns how bad the family's financial situation has gotten. Charlie buys gum and uses string from home to make a contraption to get the coin out of the grille. However, he does not have any luck. As he tries again, an older man comes up behind him and tries to discourage Charlie from getting the coin. He insists that Charlie's method will never work because he doesn't have the right tools. The man pulls out a fancier coin-retrieving contraption with a suction cup on it and tries to get the coin himself. Charlie, however, refuses to give up the coin and kicks the man viciously in the back. The man keeps trying to get the coin, so Charlie begins to throw chunks of snow at him, and the two get into a fight. The man gets desperate and begins to offer Charlie larger and larger shares of the money, if Charlie will only let him retrieve it. He also reveals that his only source of income is from collecting coins in the street. But Charlie refuses to take any less than the full amount, and eventually the man gives up. He limps away and cries. Charlie stands triumphantly over the grille. The sky turns dark.