The Midnight Visitor - Footprints Without Feet - Class 10 - CBSE English

“You are disillusioned,” Ausable told him. “But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is drama, is there not?” a. Who is 'my young friend' in the above extract? b. What is the 'important paper' referred to here? c. Find a word from the passage that means the same as 'disappointed'.

And as the light came on, Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day. For half-way across the room, a small automatic pistol in his hand, stood a man. a. Who is the 'man' referred to in the above extract? b. Why did the 'man' have a pistol in his hand? c. What is meant by the phrase 'authentic’?

“You see,” he said, “this room used to be part of a large unit, and the next room —through that door there — used to be the living room. It had the balcony, which extends under my window now. You can get onto it from the empty room two doors down — and somebody did, last month. The management promised to block it off. But they haven’t.” a. Who is speaking these words to whom? b. What is 'it' in the above extract? c. Find a phrase in the passage that means the same as 'close it up'.

Why did Fowler wanted to meet Ausable?

Describe Fowler’s first reaction after entering Ausable’s hotel room?

‘Ausable shows great presence of mind in a situation of danger and surprise.’ Do you agree with this statement? if yes, why?

Why did Max’s face turn black with anger? What did he want Ausable to do?

Why did Ausable frame the story of the balcony?

How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room?

Who actually knocked at the door of Ausable’s room? Why did he come there?

What information did Ausable give about the imaginary balcony? Why did he do so?

Ausable was a clever secret agent. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer.

Why did Max scream shrilly when he dropped to the balcony?

How is Ausable different from other secret agents

Who is Fowler? What is his first authentic thrill?

How has Max got in?

How does Ausable say he got in?

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

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?

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 plan taking advantage of events as they happened?

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