Joe's post of Oct 24, 2019 clinches the original question. All they ever found was jist his pants and roundabout, not roustabout.

A roustabout, it turns out, is a laborer or unskilled worker. A roundabout is a short jacket worn by men or boys.

Even as a young child, I thought that Annie had to do a lot of work for her room and board, especially when they piled on "make the fire and bake the bread." Even I knew making bread was hard work, and building fires was adult's work.   

There's a certain bitter irony in Annie's "help the poor and needy ones that clusters all about."