The Thief's Story by Ruskin Bond
Quick answer: The Thief's Story by Ruskin Bond, Class 10 Footprints Without Feet: summary with the ending, Hari Singh and Anil, the wet notes, themes of trust and change, exam answers.
A fifteen-year-old thief befriends a young writer at a wrestling match, moves in as his cook, steals his savings, and returns them before dawn because the man had promised to teach him to write. Ruskin Bond's The Thief's Story is second in Class 10 Footprints Without Feet.
The story in brief
Hari Singh, as he calls himself this month, spots Anil at a wrestling match: about twenty-five, easy-going, the kind who might take on a servant. Anil cannot pay but will feed him if he can cook. The first meal goes to a stray dog, but Anil keeps him, teaches him to cook and write his name, and promises whole sentences. Anil writes for magazines, earns irregularly, and spends freely; Hari skims a rupee a day from the shopping.
One evening Anil tucks six hundred rupees from a book sale under his mattress. That night Hari takes it and hurries for the Lucknow Express. He reaches the platform as the train pulls out and does not jump aboard. He walks in the rain, thinks of Anil's face and of the sentences he will never learn, and slips the wet notes back under the mattress. In the morning Anil hands him a damp fifty-rupee note, says he has been paid and will pay Hari regularly, and begins the lesson.
The characters
Themes and meaning
Exams expect trust, education as the way out of crime, and forgiveness. The sharper observation is Bond's honesty about motive. Hari does not return the money out of guilt; he returns it because writing promises more than six hundred rupees, and he calculates that plainly. A reformation that is partly self-interest is more believable for it.
The craft
The turn is the train leaving without him, the boy on the platform with the money and the departing carriages, followed by a whole wet night to think. The damp note in the morning tells both characters and the reader what happened without anyone speaking. Let an object carry the confession so nobody has to say it.
For the exam
Summary in 100 words: Hari Singh, a fifteen-year-old thief, attaches himself to Anil, a poor young writer, as a cook. Anil feeds him, forgives his terrible cooking and begins teaching him to read, write and count. When Anil brings home six hundred rupees from a book sale and hides them under his mattress, Hari steals them and hurries to catch the Lucknow Express. At the station he hesitates and lets the train go. Wandering in the rain, he realises education could change his life. He returns the wet notes. Next morning Anil gives him a damp fifty-rupee note and continues his lessons, never mentioning the theft.
What writers can take from this
- State the sum, six hundred rupees, and the train, the Lucknow Express; both appear in questions.
- Argue that self-interest and conscience together drive the return; examiners reward the honesty.
- Use the wet notes as your evidence that Anil knew.
- Writers: let an object carry the confession so that no character has to make it.
- Give a repentant character a concrete reason to change, not a change of heart alone.
Try it yourself
Write a first-person story narrated by someone who betrays a person who trusts them, then undoes the betrayal for a reason that is at least half selfish, and end with the victim acknowledging everything through a single object and no words.
Questions
Why did Hari Singh not board the Lucknow Express?
He hesitated on the platform as the train pulled out. Walking in the rain, he realised that if he left he would lose Anil's trust and the chance to learn to write, which could change his life.
How did Anil know Hari Singh had stolen and returned the money?
The notes were still wet from the rain when Anil found them under his mattress in the morning. The fifty-rupee note he gave Hari was also damp, which showed that he knew.
What is the theme of The Thief's Story?
Trust and education can transform a life. Anil's kindness and his lessons give Hari Singh a reason to abandon theft, and his silent forgiveness completes the change.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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