Class 10 English Footprints without Feet Chapter 2, The Thief’s Story by Ruskin Bond, is a first-person narrative about fifteen-year-old thief Hari Singh, who befriends a trusting twenty-five-year-old struggling writer named Anil with the intention of robbing him—only to be transformed by Anil’s quiet kindness and the promise of education.
What Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 2 Covers
Story Summary: The Thief’s Story (Ruskin Bond) Fifteen-year-old experienced thief Hari Singh (who changes his name every month to stay ahead of the police and former employers) flatters easy-going twenty-five-year-old writer Anil at a wrestling match and asks to work for him. Although Hari’s first meal is so terrible that Anil gives it to a stray dog, Anil pats his head and promises to teach him how to cook, write his name, write whole sentences, and add numbers. Hari makes a rupee a day on the daily shopping (which Anil knows but never minds). One evening Anil comes home with a bundle of 600 rupees in fifty-rupee notes from selling a book to a publisher and tucks it under his mattress. That night Hari steals the money and runs to the railway station, but inexplicably hesitates and misses the 10:30 Express to Lucknow. Walking through the bazaar and sitting in the chilly November rain at the clock tower, Hari realises that 600 rupees will last only a few weeks, whereas learning to read and write whole sentences could make him a big,clever and respected man—and that robbing a trusting friend like Anil would only bring sadness to Anil’s face for the loss of trust. He creeps back and slips the damp notes under the mattress. Next morning Anil hands him a still-wet fifty-rupee note, promises he will now be paid regularly, and says, ‘Today we’ll start writing whole sentences’—knowing everything yet saying nothing.
Exercises in Chapter 2
- Read and Find Out & Think about It examine what Hari Singh gets from Anil in return for his work, how Hari assesses different people’s reactions to being robbed (the greedy man shows fear, the rich man shows anger, the poor man shows acceptance, while Anil would only show a touch of sadness for the loss of trust), why Hari did not board the Lucknow Express, and whether Anil knew about the theft.
Read Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 2 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 1: A Triumph of Surgery
- Next: Chapter 3: The Midnight Visitor
- All English (Footprints without Feet) chapters and the other Class 10 books: Class 10 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
Why did Hari Singh return to Anil’s room after stealing the 600 rupees?
Sitting in the rain at the clock tower after missing the Lucknow Express, Hari Singh realised two things: first, that in his excitement over the theft he had forgotten that Anil was teaching him to write whole sentences, which would one day bring him far more than a few hundred rupees and make him a genuinely respected man; and second, he could not bear to betray the quiet trust of the most trusting person he had ever met.
Did Anil realise that he had been robbed? How do we know?
Yes, Anil clearly realised what had happened because the fifty-rupee note he handed to Hari Singh the next morning was still wet from the night’s rain. However, being compassionate and understanding, neither his lips nor his eyes showed anything; instead of handing Hari over to the police, he rewarded Hari’s change of heart by promising to pay him regularly and teach him to write whole sentences.