NCERT Chapter Summary: The Midnight Visitor

NCERT Chapter Summary: The Midnight Visitor

1. Who was Ausable?

Ausable was a secret agent. A very important document concerning some new missiles was under his safe custody. He didn’t look like a secret agent as we read in books or see in films. He was fat and sloppy. His office was in a small room on the sixth and top floor. Fowler was very disappointed to meet him.

2. Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent. Comment.

Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent. He did not seem to be so smart, active, movable, aggressive and romantic as we read in books or see in films. He was very fat and sloppy. Crack of pistols, wine and dark eyed beauties are normally associated with secret agents like James Bond. These qualities had nothing to do with Ausable.

3. Why did Fowler feel let down after meeting Ausable?

The younger writer, Fowler had formed a very romantic and grand picture of a secret agent in his mind. This picture was based as it is found in books or shown in films. He found Ausable not cracking pistols or surrounded by dark eyed beauties like James Bond. Rather he was a fat and sloppy man. He lived in a very small room at the sixth floor. Fowler felt rather let down after meeting Ausable.

4. What is the important paper that Ausable talks of?

Ausable is a secret agent. He has been assigned an important job. He has an important paper regarding some new missiles under his custody. The paper may well affect the course of history. It is of so much importance that several men and women have risked their lives to get it. Even Max, a secret agent himself comes to grab it from Ausable’s room.

5. How did Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day?

Fowler was rather bored and disillusioned after meeting the secret agent, Ausable. But soon, he had his first authentic thrill of the day. The moment Ausable switched on the light, he found a man standing halfway across the room. He had a small automatic pistol in his hand.

Fowler was stunned. The man demanded the report concerning some new missiles from Ausable. Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day.

6. Why and how did Max enter Ausable’s room?

Max’s entry was not merely accidental. He had entered Ausable’s room through a passkey. When Ausable switched on the light, he found him standing with a small automatic pistol in his hand. He had come to grab a very important paper that was related to some new missiles. Several men and women had already risked their lives to get that report.

7. Describe Max as a secret agent

Max was a secret agent and a rival and enemy of Ausable. He was slender, a little less than tall. He appeared crafty and had pointed countenance of a fox. There was nothing especially menacing about him except his pistol. He came to Ausable’s room to steal a very important paper concerning some new missiles. He is outwitted by Ausable and made to jump out of his window.

8. What was the real story of the balcony below the window of Ausable’s room?

Ausable had an instant and fertile mind. He could cook up all kinds of stores that fit in different situations. Actually there was no balcony below the window of his room. Ausable cooked up a story that the balcony below his room had become a big nuisance. It was the second time that someone had got into his room through it. Actually, he wanted to confuse Max and make him jump out of the window to get rid of him.

9. What position did Max take before he jumped out of the windows?

Max kept his body twisted. In this way, he could keep his gun pointed at Ausable and Fowler. He grasped the frame with his free hand to support himself. He swung his other leg up and over the windowsill. The moment he heard the knocking getting louder at the door, he positioned himself to jump out of the window.

10. What story did Ausable cook up regarding the arrival of the police? How did it affect Max?

Ausable was very quick of mind. His sharp brain could cook up any story that could fit in a particular situation. When Max heard a loud knocking at the door, he got nervous. Ausable told Max that the knocking at the door announced the arrival of the police. After all, he was holding an important paper concerning missiles. He had sought police protection. He told the police to check on him to make sure that everything was all right. This unnerved and confused Max.

11. How did Max react when Ausable told him that the loud knocking at the door were of the police?

Ausable cooked up the police’s story. He told that he himself had sought the protection of the police. The knockings at the door signalled their arrival. Max’s face was black with anger. Max swung a leg over the windowsill and shouted to send the police away. He threatened him to obey. If not, he would take his chances and shoot.

12. How did clever Ausable out wit and get rid of his rival or enemy secret agent Max?

Ausable very cleverly convinced Max that there exited a balcony below the window sill of his room. Actually, it was a trap to make Max jump out of the window. He unnerved Max by cooking up a false it is false story of the arrival of the police. Confused and panicky, Max jumped out on the balcony which did not exist. In this way, Ausable got rid of his enemy or rival. 

13. Who was actually knocking at the door, Was it pre-planned?

Ausable could cook up any false story to suit his mission. He cooked up the story of the police. He told Max that he himself sought the protection of the police. He had a very important report with him. Actually the knocking at the door was of Henry, the waiter. When the door opened, he was standing there with a bottle and two glasses. It was all cleverly planned in advance to outwit the crafty rival, Max.

14. What happened to Max after he jumped out of the window?

At last, the crafty Max was trapped in. He was outwitted by the cleverer secret agent Ausable. Asuable, the quick-witted secret agent, made Max believe that there was a balcony below his windowsill. He also made him believe that the knockings at the door were made by the police. The confused, panicked and unnerved Max jumped out of the window. He cried only for once. That was the end of the crafty rival secret agent and Asuable got rid of him forever.

15. How do you judge Ausable as a secret agent?

Ausable was fat in body but exceptionally quick in mind and manipulations. He might look fat and sloppy but was much more than that. His sharp mind could cook up any story that could fit in a particular situation. The story of the balcony and the police were cooked up only to confuse and unnerve Max. Although he didn’t look like secret agents as described in books or shown in films, he was a highly competent and sharp-witted secret agent.