Class 10 English Chapter 3 Question Answers - The Midnight Visitor

Q1: What made the story of the balcony so convincing?
Ans: Ausable showed his annoyance for the nuisance created by the balcony. He said that this was the second time that someone had got into his room through it. He also said that the balcony was not his but belongs to the next apartment and earlier his room used to be a part of a large unit.

Q2: Comment on the writer’s likely choice to create an unconventional spy character like Ausable in 'The Midnight Visitor'.
Ans: The writer likely chose to create an unconventional spy character like Ausable in "The Midnight Visitor" to offer a fresh and memorable story that challenges typical spy stereotypes. This choice highlights that people involved in espionage can be different from what we usually expect. Ausable's unique traits make him more relatable, add humor to the story, and present a new perspective on what a spy can be. The difference between Ausable's ordinary appearance and his skillful handling of the situation makes his character more interesting and adds depth to the story.

Q3: Henry unintentionally saved Ausable’s life. Briefly comment. 
Ans: Henry, the waiter at the hotel where Ausable was staying, unintentionally saved Ausable’s life. At a crucial moment, Henry knocked on Ausable's door just as Ausable was convincing Max about a non-existent balcony. Thinking the knock was the police, Max panicked and jumped out of the window, leading to Ausable being saved.

Q4: How did Ausable befool Max about the balcony?
Ans: Ausable was a very intelligent spy agent. When he found Max waiting for him in his room, he immediately thought of the plan. He told Max that there is a balcony from where people enter his room that Max must have also entered from there. Max got convinced about the story and hence when someone knocked at the door, he ran towards the balcony to hide and died.

Q5: Why did so many people risk their lives?
Ans: Ausable had received a paper which had certain important information about new missiles. The paper was so important that several men and women had risked their lives to get it.

Q6: How did Ausable kill Max without using a weapon?
Ans: Ausable was an intelligent spy. When he found Max waiting for him in his room, he made a story of a balcony under his window. He convinced Max about the balcony. And thus, when someone knocked at the door, Max fearing it to be the police, jumped out of the window and died.

Q7: Who was in Ausable’s room? What was in his hand?
Ans: A man named Max was there in Ausable’s room. He was another secret agent. He had an automatic pistol in his hand.

Q8: What did the secret agent tell Max when he heard the knock?
Ans: He told Max that it would be the police. He said that he had called the police for the protection of such an important paper that he was going to receive that night. He wanted to have extra protection for the report.

Q9: Did Ausable know that it was the waiter who had knocked at the door?
Ans: Yes, Ausable knew that the man knocking at the door was the waiter. He had ordered him to bring a bottle of wine. And he knew that the waiter must have come with the drinks.

Q10: Was there a balcony outside the window? Give instances from the text in support of your answer.
Ans: No, actually there was not a balcony outside the window. Ausable had falsely told Max about the balcony. When Max dropped himself to the balcony, he screamed. He fell down to the ground from the sixth floor. In the end, Ausable told Fowler, “No, he won’t return.”

Q.11. How and why did Max come inside Ausable’s room?
Ans. Max had come into the room using a passkey. He had come to get the secret report about some new missiles which, he was sure, was with Ausable.

Q.12. How was Ausable different from the other secret agents?
Ans. Ausable, unlike other secret agents, was very fat with an accent of German. Fowler was expecting a smart and active agent having messages slipped into his hand by a dark beauty. Whereas, Ausable received a telephone call making an appointment in his room.

Q.13. Why was Ausable confident that Max would never return?
Ans. Believing Ausable’s story about the balcony to be true, Max stepped out, however, had concocted a very convincing story, and knew that what awaited hit° was a drop from the sixth floor. Hence, he was confident that Max would never return.

Q.14. Did Max really deserve to get a chance to accomplish a risky task?
Ans. I do not believe that Max deserved a chance to accomplish a risky task, as his err very smart, gun. A spy without these nor very intelligent. He did not even look threatening to Fowler except seeing apparent qualities will most likely be a failure.

Q.15. Why did Fowler want to meet Ausable? Why was he disappointed?
Ans. Fowler was a young and romantic writer. He wanted to meet Ausable because he was a secret agent. He was disappointed to meet Ausable because he was a fat sloppy fellow. He was not romantic. He lived in a small room in a gloomy hotel.

Q16: How did Ausable behave to see Max in his room?
Ans: To see Max in his room Ausable remained cool and silent. He was not afraid of Max. He seemed to be angry with the management of the hotel regarding the balcony below the window of his room.

Q17: Fowler said that Max would soon come back from the balcony. What did Ausable tell him?
Ans: Ausable told Fowler that Max would never return. He said so because he knew that there was not any balcony outside. He said that Max had fallen down to the ground to meet his end.

Q18:  Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent. Comment.
Ans: 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. The 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.

Q19: What is the important paper that Ausable talks of?
Ans: 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 them. Even Max, a secret agent himself, comes to grab them from Ausable’s room.

Q20: How did Fowler have his first authentic thrill of the day?
Ans. 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.

Q21: What was the real story of the balcony below the window of Ausable’s room?
Ans: Ausable had an instant and fertile mind. He could cook up all kinds of stories 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.

Q22: What position did Max take before he jumped out of the window?
Ans: 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.

Q23: What story did Ausable cook up regarding the arrival of the police? How did it affect Max?
Ans: 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.

Q24: How did Max react when Ausable told him that the loud knockings at the door of the police?
Ans: Ausable cooked up the police’s story. He told that he himself had sought the protection of the police. The knockings at the door signaled 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.

Q25: Who was actually knocking at the door? Was it pre-planned?
Ans. 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.

Q.26. Why and how did Max enter Ausable’s room?
Ans. 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.

Q.27. Describe Max as a secret agent.
Ans. 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.

Q.28. How did clever Ausable outwit and get rid of his rival or enemy secret agent Max?
Ans. Ausable very cleverly convinced Max that there existed a balcony below the windowsill of his room. Actually, it was a trap to make Max jump out of the window. He unnerved Max by cooking up a 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.

Q.29. What happened to Max after he jumped out of the window?
Ans. At last, the crafty Max was trapped in. He was outwitted by the cleverer secret agent Ausable. Ausable, 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 Ausable got rid of him forever.

Q.30. How do you judge Ausable as a secret agent?
Ans. Ausable was fat in the 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.