more than his own arrest
for theft.

During the hard apprenticeship which he had served as a street boy, he
had not been without his share of faults and errors; but he had never,
even under the severest pressure, taken what did not belong to him.

Of religious and moral instruction he had then received none; but
something told him that it was mean to steal, and he was true to this
instinctive feeling. Yet, if he had been arrested a year before, it
would have brought him less shame and humiliation than now. Now he was
beginning to enjoy the feeling of respectability, which he had compassed
by his own earnest efforts. He felt he was regarded with favor by those
whose good opinion was worth having, and his heart swelled within him as
he thought that they might be led to believe him guilty. He had never
felt so down-hearted as when he walked in company with the policeman to
the station-house, to be locked up for examination the next morning.

"You wasn't sharp enough this time, young fellow," said the policeman.

"Do you think I stole the pocket-book?" asked Dick, looking up in the
officer's face.

"Oh, no, of course not! You wouldn't do anything of that kind," said the
policeman, ironically.

"No, I wouldn't," said Dick, emphatically. "I've been poor enough and
hungry enough sometimes, but I never stole. It's mean."

"What is your name?" said the officer. "I think I have seen you before."

"I used to black boots. Then my name was Ragged Dick. I know you. Your
name is Jones."

"Ragged Dick! Yes, yes, I remember. You used to be pretty well out at
elbows, if I remember rightly."

"My clothes used to be pretty well ventilated," said Dick, smiling
faintly. "That was what made me so healthy, I expect. But did you ever
know me to steal?"

"No," said the officer, "I can't say I have."

"I lived about the streets for more then eight years," said Dick, "and
this is the first time I was ever arrested."

"What do you do now?"

"I'm in a store on Pearl Street."

"What wages do you get?"

"Ten dollars a week."

"Do you expect me to believe that story?"

"It's true."

"I don't believe there's a boy of your age in the city that gets such
wages. You can't earn that amount."

"I jumped into the water, and saved the life of Mr. Rockwell's little
boy. That's why he pays me so much."

"Where did you get that watch and chain? Are they gold?"

"Yes, Mrs. Rockwell gave them to me."

"It seems to me you're in luck."