when the author lived in an institutional foster home, the stetson home for boys, in barre, massachusetts, as an indentured servant, he built a relatively large solid-fuel rocket. the last flight of this rocket resulted in the institution's barn being set on fire. the author was charged as a juvenile with the crime of arson and then remanded to the custody of the massachusetts youth service board and sent to the roslindale detention center. thereupon, he was called a firebug by the juvenile authorities.