Sydney Wallace's "Ragged Dick" Response

I have never heard of or read about a story such as "Ragged Dick" in my past history of novels, excerpts, or other short stories. I am not familiar with Horatio Alger who happens to be the author of the selected reading. However, I very much enjoyed the excerpt that was in the book, and I am looking forward to researching more about the author and the excerpt itself. I was a fan of Dick's character in the story and the manner in which he presented and carried himself. In addition, I was very pleased at how modest and pleasant he was. It came to my attention that Dick had good karma in the story. At first, he was just getting by, and was searching for a new job where he continued to get turned down. He wasn't living to his liking, and when he committed a good deed, it brought about new opportunities for success. Dick rescued a little boy who almost drowned in a river in Brooklyn. The little boy's father offered to go to his friend’s house where Dick was rewarded with a new suit and clothes. Evidently, the man whom gave the suit to Dick offered him in a job in the position where he wanted to work. This man also guaranteed Dick ten dollars a week which was a very high salary at the time, and far better than what Dick expected which was three dollars. I felt that Dick not only earned this new position, but also deserved it because he was such a great person. Furthermore, Dick was very modest in everything he did which made the situations where he was rewarded that much more beneficial. At the end of the excerpt, I liked the fact that Dick was promoted from "Ragged Dick" to his government name "Richard Hunter," meaning that he finally was living up what he wanted to achieve.