NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 3 The Midnight Visitor

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 10th

aglase .co

Class : 10th
Subject : English-2
Chapter : 3
Chapter Name : The Midnight Visitor

Q1 How is Ausable different from other secret agents?

Answer. Ausable was different from other secret agents in more ways than one. He had a small
room in the musty corridor of a gloomy French hotel. It was on the sixth and top oor and it was
scarcely the setting for a romantic adventure. He was extremely fat. Inspite of living in Paris for
over twenty years, he spoke French and German only passably and had an American accent.
Instead of getting messages slipped into his hands by dark-eyed beauties, he got only a
telephone call making an appointment. In these ways, he was different from the conventional
notion of a spy.

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Q2 Who is Fowler and what is his rst authentic thrill of the day?

Answer. Fowler was a writer and he had come to meet Ausable.
Fowler’s rst authentic thrill of the day came when he saw a man in Ausable’s room pointing a
pistol towards Ausable and himself.

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Q3 How has Max got in?

Answer. Max had got into the room with a passkey or a master key.

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Q4 How does Ausable say he got in?

Answer. Ausable said that he thought Max had got into the room through the balcony. He said
that it was the second time in a month that somebody had got into his room this way.

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Q1 “Ausable did not t any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret
agents in books and lms look like, in your opinion?

Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents,
and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters
from ction in languages other than English. In English ction you may have come across
Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James
Bond?)

Page : 18 , Block Name : Think About It

Q2 How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room?
Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?

Answer. Ausable created a convincing story about the presence of a balcony. He said that twice
in a month somebody had entered his room through the balcony. On being questioned by Max
about the balcony, he replied with extreme irritation that it was not his balcony. This reaction,
which looked natural, played a part in convincing Max. He further told Max explanatorily that
his room was earlier a part of a larger unit and the adjoining room was the one which had the
balcony. He said that it extended under his window. His manner of description and speaking
convinced Max that there was indeed a balcony under his window.

Page : 18 , Block Name : Think About It

Q3 Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of
Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or did he
make up a plann taking advantage of events as they happened?

Answer. It seems that Ausable had worked out the plan right from the beginning. He did not take
any time to let Max know about the presence of a balcony. His story seemed pretty much
thought out and he was convincing in his narration. The timing of the knock on the door was
perfect because he had already asked the waiter, Henry, to bring him a bottle of drink and two
glasses after he returned. Therefore, he was expecting his knock on the door and accordingly, he
told Max that it was the police whom he had asked to check in to make sure everything was
alright. At the end, the calm with which he told Fowler, who was terri ed, that there was no
police and that he had expected the waiter to come in with his order shows that he was not
surprised by the sudden turn of events and Max’s turning up at his room. Such a detailed and
well-knit plan gives the impression that it was pre-planned and that he was prepared for it.

Page : 18 , Block Name : Think About It

Q1 In this story, Ausable shows great ‘presence of mind,’ or the ability to think quickly, and act
calmly and wisely, in a situation of danger and surprise. Give examples from your own
experience, or narrate a story, which shows someone’s presence of mind.

Answer. This story is reference to the play 'If I were you”- Gurrad was captured bv a criminal and

the criminal pointed gun towards him but he treated the criminal as a guest and trapped him in
his con dence. He achieved the criminal to run away as police is behind him. He told the
criminal to run through the exit door, which was actually a cupboard door. The criminal exited
the door and was caught in the cupboard.

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Q2 Discuss what you would do in the situations described below. Remember that presence of
mind comes out of a state of mental preparedness. If you have thought about possible problems
or dangers, and about how to act in such situations, you have a better chance of dealing with
such situations if they do arise.
i) A small re starts in your kitchen.
ii) A child starts to choke on a piece of food.
iii) An electrical appliance starts to hiss and gives out sparks.
iv) A bicycle knocks down a pedestrian.
v) It rains continuously for more than twenty-four hours.
vi) A member of your family does not return home at the usual or expected time. You may
suggest other such situations.

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