Arthur "Boo" Radley was still in his teens when he first
got into trouble. He began hanging around "some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum"
which, as Scout relates, was as close to a gang as Maycomb had ever seen. They hung out
at the barbershop, at the Dew-Drop Inn and "experimented with stumphole whiskey." In
short, Arthur was running with a bad crowd. One night they stole a "flivver" (an old
Ford Model T), and then locked the town "beadle" (a minor town official of some sort) in
the courthouse outhouse. The boys were charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the
peace, assault and battery, and "using abusive and profane language in the presence and
hearing of a female."
The other boys were sent to the state
industrial school, but Arthur's father would not allow this punishment for his son.
Instead, Arthur was bonded out to his father, who promised that his son would cause no
more trouble. While the other boys "received the best secondary education to be had in
the state," Arthur was locked away in the Radley house and "was not seen again for
fifteen years."
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