1. Who was Horace Danby?
Horace Danby was about fifty years old and unmarried. Everyone thought that he was a good and honest citizen. He lived with a housekeeper who worried about his health. He suffered from the attacks of hay fever in summer. He made locks and was successful at his business. But he was not completely honest. He robbed a safe once a year to buy rare and costly books.
2. Why was Horace Danby not completely honest?
Generally, people thought that Horace Danby was a good, honest and respectable citizen. However, he was not completely honest. He robbed a safe every year. This was done to get necessary money for the purchase of ‘rare and expensive’ books. The money he stole was enough to last a year. He secretly bought the books he loved through an agent.
3. What preparation did Horace make for ‘this year’s robbery’ at Shot over Grange?
All the previous yearly robberies of Horace Danby were successful. He felt sure that this year’s robbery at shot over Grange would also be successful. He had been studying the location of the house for two weeks. He studied its rooms, electric wiring, paths and garden. He found out that the two servants had gone to the movies. He had seen the housekeeper hang the key to the kitchen door on a hook outside.
4. How did Horace Danby enter the house?
Horace Danby had been preparing for the theft. He studied the house carefully for two weeks before committing the theft in the house at Shot over Grange. He studied its rooms, electric wiring, paths and its garden. He had seen the housekeeper hang the key to the kitchen door on a hook outside. He put on a pair of gloves, took the key and opened the door. Thus, he entered the house at Shot over Grange.
5. What precautions did Horace make before reading the safe? Name three of them.
Horace Danby took the following precautions before committing the theft: (i) He put on a pair of gloves as he was always careful not to leave any fingerprints.
- To tackle the house-dog, Sherry, he kept him quiet and friendly by calling him by his right name.
- He cut the wire of the burglar bell.
6. Why was it not hard to open the safe for Horace Danby?
It was not going to be hard to open the safe for Horace Danby. After all, he had ‘lived with locks and safes all his life’. He made burglar alarm was poorly built and he cut the wires of the burglar alarm. He knew about the safe and the key, and it was not a difficult job for him to open it when no one was present in the house.
7. Whose voice was it that advised Horace about the special treatment of his hay fever?
When Horace was about to open the safe, he heard a female voice. She asked if he sneezing again and again. She told that he could cure the hay fever with a special treatment. He must find out what plant gave him that disease. She also advised Horace to see a doctor.
8. Describe the unexpected meeting of the young lady in red and Horace.
When a voice advised Horace to find a suitable treatment of his hay fever, he was surprised. It was a quiet, kindly voice but one with firmness in it.
A young woman, quite pretty and dressed in red was standing there. She walked to the fire place and straightened the ornaments. She said that she “didn’t expect to meet a burglar”.
9. Why did the women in red threaten to telephone the police?
Horace was caught red-handed. The women in red said that didn’t expect to meet a burglar there. She added that she knew that it had been a great inconvenience for him to meet her. She also asked what he was thinking of running away. The ladies threatened that if he did so, she would telephone the police and tell them all about him. They would get him at once.
10. When and why did the woman in red say, “Society must be protected from men like you”? Doesn’t it sound ironical?
Horace assured the woman in red that he would not hurt her. She must forget she ever met him. It made her angry. She couldn’t let him go; otherwise he would rob someone else. Society must be protected for people like him. It sounds ironical because she herself was a thief and had come for the same purpose for which Horace was there in the house.
11.”I have always liked the wrong kind of people” said the woman in red. Comment.
It was ironical that the woman, who was being considered as the lady of the house and talking big things, was herself a thief. Horace requested her to let him go. He was desperate and afraid of going to prison. He promised never to do such a thing again. The lady pretended to be generous and stated that she “always liked the wrong kind of people”.
12. Why did Horace mistake the young lady in red as the lady of the house?
The young woman in red was even smarter than Horace Danby. She was a thief and came with the same purpose as Horace to that house. Horace, she encountered Horace with an air of confidence and authority. She didn’t allow him to doubt or think about her. She showed that the dog, Sherry, belonged to her. He told him that she returned ‘home’ just in time. Her manner of speaking, gestures and confidence mad Horace mistake her to be the lady of house.
13. Do you think that the young woman in red proved far smarter than Horace Danby? Give reasons.
Definitely the young woman in red proved far smarter than Horace Danby. She played her part of being the lady of the house with complete perfection. She was an example of self confidence. She didn’t show any hesitation. She spoke and acted with an air of complete confidence and authority. Poor Horace became a puppet who couldn’t take himself out of her spell. She threatened to telephone the police and made him open the safe, while Horace was later on caught and arrested. She decamped with the jewels.
14. Who is the culprit in the story, the young lady in red or Horace Danby? Comment.
Law of any land works on evidences. Horace Danby opened the safe without wearing his gloves. He didn’t think it necessary to wear them as he thought he was working for ‘the lady of the house’. so the police matched his fingerprints and he was arrested. The lady in the red was actually the real culprit. She made Horace open the safe for her. she was also a thief and decamped with the jewels. But in the eyes of the law, Horace was the real culprit because the evidence was against him.
15. Why didn’t the dog bark when Horace Danby and the young lady in red entered to commit theft in house?
Both, Horace Danby and the young lady in red knew all the tricks of their trade. They knew all the real nature of dogs and how to be friendly with them. A small dog when made a noise, Horace called out “All right, Sherry,” as he passed. Perhaps, the lady in red also knew like Horace that to keep dogs quiet, one must call them by their right names. Their trick worked and Sherry remained quiet.
16. Why did Horace Danby prefer books to collecting paintings?
Horace Danby had a passion for books. Collecting and buying rare and expensive books was his passionate hobby. He resorted to rob a safe every year to buy them. When the preference between collecting books and paintings came, he chose the former. Paintings took up too much space. In a small house like his, books were a better choice.
17. Why didn’t Horace Danby never get any chance to look for another safe?
Horace got nothing from the house at Shot over Grange. The lady in red decamped with the jewels. For two days, he kept his promise given to the king, realised that he would have to look for another safe to buy books. But he never got that chance because the police arrested him for the jewel robbery at shot over Grange.
18. How can you say that Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest?
Horace Danby was a good and respectable person. He had a flourishing business of locks. He lived a happy life and earned well. But he used to rob a safe every year for sustenance. It proves that he was not a completely honest person.
19. What was Horace Danby’s hobby? How did he manage to fulfil it?
Horace Danby loved rare and expensive books. He managed to cultivate his hobby by robbing a safe every year. He carefully planned a robbery every year, stole enough to last for twelve months and secretly bought the loved through an agent.
20. How were flowers hindering Horace in his work?
There was bowl of flowers on the table. Horace sneezed loudly because of the small of the flowers. Disturbed, he put down his bag. Thus, the small of the flowers hindered Horace in his work.