Class 10 English book Footprint: The Midnight Visitor Chapter 3

 Class 10 English book Footprint: The Midnight Visitor Chapter 3    

Q 1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?  (or)
What great qualities made Ausable a successful secret agent?  (or)
How was Ausable different from other secret agents?    (or)
How is Ausable different from other secret agents? How does he deal with Max?

Ans. Ausable was not like other secret agents. He was very fat and lived in a small, dull room on the top floor of a French hotel. He didn’t speak French well and had an American accent. Instead of exciting adventures, he got normal phone calls. He tricked Max with clever stories to get rid of him.

Q 2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day?
Ans. Fowler is a writer and he had come to meet Ausable. His first authentic thrill of the day came when he saw a man in Ausable’s room pointing a pistol towards Ausable and himself.

Q 3. How has Max got in?
Max had got into the room using a passkey or master key.

Q 4. How does Ausable say he got in?
Ausable said that he thought Max had entered 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.

               Reading Chapter in Easy English Language

Ausable and the Clever Spy Story

Ausable did not look like the secret agents Fowler had read about. As Fowler followed him through the musty corridor of a gloomy French hotel, he felt disappointed. Ausable’s room was on the sixth and top floor, small and plain, and not at all the setting for an exciting adventure.  Ausable was very fat. He spoke French and German, but with difficulty, and still had an American accent from Boston, even after twenty years in Paris. 

 

“You’re disappointed,” Ausable said, turning to Fowler. “You were told I’m a secret agent, dealing in danger and adventure. You came here expecting dark streets, guns, and mysterious messages. But instead, you spent a dull evening with a fat man like me who gets ordinary phone calls instead of secret messages. I’m sure you’re bored!” 

Ausable chuckled as he opened the door to his room. “But cheer up,” he said. “Soon you’ll see an important paper arrive, one for which many have risked their lives. This paper might even change history!”  As Ausable turned on the light, Fowler got his first real thrill of the day. In the middle of the room stood a man with a pistol in his hand. 

“Max,” Ausable said, blinking. “You scared me! I thought you were in Berlin. Why are you in my room?”  Max was thin, not very tall, and had a fox-like face. Except for the gun, he didn’t look dangerous.  “I’m here for the report,” Max said quietly. “The one coming to you tonight about the new missiles. I think it will be safer with me than with you.” 

Ausable sat down heavily in an armchair. “This is the second time in a month that someone has gotten into my room through the balcony,” he said angrily.  Fowler looked at the window. It was just a simple window with a dark night outside.  “Balcony?” Max asked, surprised. “I didn’t know about a balcony. I used a master key to enter.” 

“It’s not my balcony,” Ausable said. “It belongs to the next apartment. This room was once part of a bigger flat, and the balcony extends under my window. Someone used it last month to break in. The hotel promised to block it off, but they haven’t.” 

Max gestured with the gun, telling Fowler to sit down. “We’ll wait for the report,” he said. “It should arrive in thirty minutes.”  “Thirty-one,” Ausable corrected him. “The appointment is at 12:30. I wonder how you learned about the report, Max.”  Max smiled. “We also wonder how your people got the report. But no matter. I’ll take it tonight. What’s that?” 

There was a sudden knock at the door. Fowler jumped in surprise, but Ausable stayed calm.  “That must be the police,” Ausable said. “I asked them to check on me because this report is so important.” Max looked worried. The knocking grew louder, and a voice called, “Mr. Ausable! Mr. Ausable!”  Max panicked. He backed toward the window. “Send them away, or I’ll hide on the balcony and shoot if needed!” he said, climbing out of the window.  But there was no balcony! Max fell to the ground below. 

Ausable calmly walked to the door and opened it. A waiter stood outside with a tray of drinks. Fowler stared in shock. Ausable had fooled Max with a clever story about the balcony. In the end, Ausable proved that intelligence and quick thinking are more important than looking like a hero.