The narrator of this story is a thief. 'I' refers to the thief in the story.

The thief was “a fairly successful hand” at stealing people.

Anil promised him that he would teach him how to cook and how to write his name. He also promised that he would teach him to write whole sentences and how to add numbers.

The thief discerned that Anil would be a little sad on discovering the theft. The sadness would not be for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.