We're in the dangerous streets of the New York tenements at the close of the 19th century, with two young boys who have escaped their vicious stepfather by faking their own drowning in the river. Matt and Mickey Deacon disguise themselves by changing their names to Nip and Tuck. But just changing names for two proverbial peas in a pod is hardly enough to save them from the determined evil predators who are seeking them: Hike Raider, their erstwhile stepfather, who threatens to put the twins¿ baby sister in a dreaded baby farm; Gold-tooth Aunty, a deadly Faginesque female, who reels the unsuspecting boys into her den of pickpockets, cheaters, and thieves; and a roster of other mysterious, wicked characters. Does this story have a melodramatic Victorian happy ending for the twins? Was there ever any doubt?