When the narrator is at the point of removing his trousers though he has nothing inside, a blue-eyed,’ fair-complexioned six-footer, with a red turban and white trousers, intervenes and offers to pay the amount due from the narrator to the restaurant owner. He asks the speaker to go with him and when the grateful speaker asks for his name, he says he has no name. When the speaker says ‘Mercy’ must be his name, he does not react and walks on until they reach a deserted bridge.
There, after making sure that no one is around, the stranger takes out five wallets and asks the speaker which of these is his. He warns the speaker to go away without turning around and adds that the speaker should not admit to anyone that he has seen the man. He gives the wallet, which has been identified by the speaker, with the money intact and leaves the place wishing the speaker that he be helped by . The speaker, on his part, hopes that would help the stranger.
Thus we see that the pickpocket helps the narrator not only at the restaurant but also outside by returning the purse. This is how the act of kindness gains insignificance. First of all the pickpocket is good enough to help the man who faces humiliation as he has lost his purse; secondly, he is kind enough to return the purse; thirdly, the eleven annas that he pays is not the narrator’* money, but his own.
