Michael O'Halloran chronicles the adventures of an orphaned newspaper boy in his "hand-to-hand scuffle" with life in a midwestern metropolis. Young Mickey O'Halloran lives alone in a tenement in Multiopolis until he stumbles upon another orphan, a crippled little girl named Lily Peaches. Mickey takes her under his wing, determined to make a home in face of their poverty. They touch the lives of various men and women of the city, whose own values are strengthened through the example of these two plucky children. Gene Stratton-Porter's faith in the healing power of nature is also apparent, in a lovingly depicted tamarack swamp set near the city. The story of Mickey and Lily resonates into our when age, when definitions of "home" and "family" continue to fuel public and political discussion.