An old lady was standing on the corner waiting for a street car. In her hand she held a small package, a Christmas present for someone. A boy, about fourteen years of age, darted out from a door-way, grabbed the package, hastened down the street and dodged into an alley. A newsboy who saw the act started after the thief, and as he ran several other newsboys joined in the chase. While they were gone another newsboy went to the lady expressing regret at her loss, but assuring her the boy who stole the package would be caught. With tears in her eyes the old lady told the boy that the box contained a number of presents for a little girl who was confined to the house on account of being a cripple for life. That the purchase was the result of many weeks’ hard work, sewing for some of her neighbors, that she might earn the money to get a present for the little girl. “Now, my lady,” said the newsboy, “don’t you worry for a minute, one of our officers started in a dead run after him and I know he will catch him. We don’t allow anything like that to happen. That boy don’t belong to the association.” The lady was escorted to a drug store where people wait for cars, and advised to remain there until the newsboys returned. She did not have to wait long, for, in a short time, the officer returned with a dozen newsies all trying to push the “grafter” ahead of them. When in front of the lady, he was made to hand her the package, and get down upon his knees and ask her forgiveness. The old lady was placed upon a street-car, and the officers took charge of the boy. They brought him to the president’s office. “Mr. President,” said a member of the executive committee, “we have here a new boy. He was pretending to sell papers on the streets, but he proved to be a ‘grafter,’ for we caught him stealing a package from an old lady who worked all summer to save money to buy a Christmas present for a little girl who is a cripple. We run him down.” The boy hung his head. He was under no obligations to any of the boys, and could have been independant over his capture but when he was told the package belonged to a little cripple, it had a strange effect upon him. He lost sight of everything but the wrong done to the little girl. “I didn’t know it belonged to a cripple or I wouldn’t have taken it. You see, we at home don’t think nothing of taking things as we can get, we believe in helping ourselves to anything we wants when no body is looking. I am sorry I took the present.”