had been watching Mike. Mike couldn’t see the officer observing himand
tried still another theft. When he slid his fingers into a man’s jacket pocket,
he was surprised to feel a strong hand on his arm. The policewoman had been
watching him and had run up to Mike as he stole the wallet. Mike dropped the
walletand tried to make a run for it. But the policewoman had him firmly in
her grip; Mike was caught. He knew he couldn’t get away now and said, “I
should have stopped with three.” The policewoman just laughed and replied,
“You never should have started at all.”
When they got to the police station, the officers there found the other three
wallets. Trying to explain, Mike said, “I found them.” But no one believed him.
For the next few months Mike would have time behind bars to think about
his life as a pickpocket.Exercise 4.10Sample answers are provided.
Laddy to the Rescue
During the afternoon of a sunny day, a seven-year-old girl decided to go
for a walk. She went across a meadow and into the woodsand soon realized
that she was lost. She looked around her, but nothing looked familiar.
She began crying, and she sat on a rock and wondered what to do. But she
felt some hope when she saw a narrow clearing between the trees. The little
girl walked along the wide path bordered with tall trees and thick shrubs. Soon
it was getting dark, and the little girl walked faster. There in the distance she
could see a small, dark cottage. She opened the door and stepped in cau-
tiously. There was a sudden, horrible noise, and the girl turned and ran out
the door and back to the woods. She ran and ran and found herself alone in a
clearing surrounded by tall bushes. She was terribly lonely and afraid, so she
sat on the ground and closed her eyes. Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a
quietly bubbling stream.
The little girl had a large, shaggy dog named Laddy. He was loyal to her and
sensed that she was in danger. There was no way out of the house, so Laddy
jumped through a window, breaking the glass. He ran to the barn; he looked
inthe fields, but Laddy couldn’t find his little mistress anywhere. Suddenly
there was a familiar scent on the ground. Laddy lowered his head and followed
the scent across the meadow. He looked right and left. He barked loudly into
the air. Then Laddy searched through the woodsuntil he found the little cot-
tage. But the strange little house was empty. Laddy looked around and headed226 Answer Key