The opening identifies the first-person narrator and explains his false name.
‘I’ refers to Hari Singh, the fifteen-year-old thief who narrates the story. He admits that Hari Singh is one of the new names he adopts regularly to evade the police and former employers.
The phrase is completed by the narrator’s preceding confession that he is a thief.
He is a fairly successful hand at stealing. Although only fifteen, he calls himself an experienced thief who wins people’s confidence before robbing them.
Hari is not initially paid wages, but receives subsistence and teaching.
Anil gives him food and a place to stay. More importantly, he promises to teach him to cook, write his name, write whole sentences and add numbers, offering him the education that could change his future.
Hari contrasts Anil’s expected response with the fear, anger and acceptance he has seen in other victims.
He believes Anil will show only a touch of sadness—not because of the money, but because Hari has betrayed his trust.
These are the three reactions explicitly listed by the narrator.
From studying his victims’ faces, he says that a greedy person shows fear, a rich person shows anger and a poor person shows acceptance when robbed.
The wet note and Anil’s quiet response reveal his knowledge without an accusation.
Yes. The fifty-rupee note he gives Hari the next morning is still wet from the rain, showing that Anil found the returned notes. He says nothing about the theft and instead promises regular pay and a new lesson in writing sentences.
The two quoted reflections show education changing from a useful skill into Hari’s route out of theft.
Hari is excited when Anil promises to teach him because he first imagines education as a way to expand his opportunities. After stealing the money, that vague ambition becomes a moral choice. He realises that a few hundred rupees will last only briefly, whereas learning to write whole sentences can help him become ‘a clever and respected man’. He also understands that stealing from Anil means losing affection, trust, work and the chance to learn. The desire for a different, respectable life, together with remorse for betraying Anil, makes him miss the train and return the notes.
Anil’s actions the next morning answer the question more clearly than any explicit speech.
Anil recognises both the theft and Hari’s voluntary return of the money. He treats that return as evidence that the boy can reform, so he protects Hari’s dignity instead of punishing him. Many employers, feeling betrayed, might report a thief or dismiss him. Anil is different because he responds with trust and opportunity: he offers regular pay and resumes the writing lessons without even mentioning the crime. His compassion gives Hari a reason to become honest rather than fixing him permanently in the role of a criminal.