preschool age, yet be mature
enough to follow orders.

The job consisted of meandering through the streets of the city, in
the aimless patterns of youth, while keeping an eye open for parked
automobiles with the ignition keys still in their locks.

Only a very young child can go whooping through the streets bumping
pedestrians, running wildly, or walking from car to car twiggling each
door handle and peering inside as if he were imitating a door-to-door
salesman, occasionally making a minor excursion in one shop door and out
the other.

He takes little risk. He merely spots the target. He reports that there
is such-and-such a car parked so-and-so, after which he goes on to spot
the next target. The rest of the business is up to the men who do the
actual stealing.

Jimmy's job-training program took only one morning. That same afternoon
he went to work for Jake's crew.

Jake's experience with kids had been no more than so-so promising. He
used them because they were better than nothing. He did not expect them
to stay long; they were gobbled up by the rules of compulsory education
just about the age when they could be counted upon to follow orders.

He felt about the same with Jimmy Holden; the "missing person" report
stated that one of the most prominent factors in the lad's positive
identification was his high quality of speech and his superior
intelligence. (This far Paul Brennan had to go, and he had divulged
the information with great reluctance.)

But though Jake needed a preschool child with intelligence, he did not
realize the height of Jimmy Holden's.

It was obvious to Jimmy on the second day that Jake's crew was not taking
advantage of every car spotted. One of them had been a "natural" to
Jimmy's way of thinking. He asked Jake about it: "Why didn't you take the
sea-green Ford in front of the corner store?"

"Too risky."

"Risky?"

Jake nodded. "Spotting isn't risky, Jimmy. But picking the car up is.
There is a very dangerous time when the driver is a sitting duck. From
the moment he opens the car door he is in danger. Sitting in the chance
of getting caught, he must start the car, move it out of the parking
space into traffic, and get under way and gone before he is safe."

"But the sea-green Ford was sitting there with its engine running!"

"Meaning," nodded Jake, "that the driver pulled in and made a fast dash
into the store for a newspaper or a pack of cigarettes."

"I understand. Your man