The Midnight Visitor Summary Class 10 English
GIST
The story revolves around three characters, two rival spies named Ausable and Max and one mystery writer Fowler. Ausable is a chubby, lethargic, messy and clumsy man while Max is slender and rugged. The story is a short but intriguing insight into the life of a spy which may not be as glamorous as in the movies but still full of danger and suspense. Ausable meets Fowler, a writer fascinated by spies and secrets. Ausable was expecting a sensitive document to arrive that night and so asks Fowler to follow him through the night. Disappointed at Ausable’s appearance and mannerisms, Fowler agrees to do the same. Suddenly, Ausable gets a phone call regarding someone who had entered his hotel room. Alarmed but not overly worried he beckons Fowler to follow him to his room. The room was in the 6th floor. As they enter the room, they are startled by a pistol-toting individual staring at them. It is Max, the rival spy of Ausable. He asks them to enter and lock the room. He threatens Ausable and warns him to hand over the documents to him as soon as they arrive at his room later that night. Playing rather composed Ausable sits down and complains about the balcony window that he thought Max used to break into his room. Max claims that he used the master key to get inside and had he known about the balcony he would have used that instead. Ausable reiterates that he had complained to the management about the balcony window several times and has had previous break-ins. Fowler was listening to the conversation intently. Suddenly there is loud clamor at the door. Ausable suggests that it must be the police that he had arranged to safe keep the documents. Max is gets anxious and asks Ausable to turn them away while he hides in the balcony.
He threatens to shoot if he smells any trickery. As soon as Max leaps outside the window he yells out of horror as he crashes to the road below. The room had no balcony after all. Next, the door opens and Fowler sees a waiter holding Ausable’s drinks rather any policeman. Fowler is relieved and impressed by Ausable’s presence of mind. He realizes that looks can truly be deceiving.
Key Points of the Story –
The Midnight Visitor:
1. Fowler was a young and romantic writer.
2. He wanted to meet Ausable because he wanted to write a book on detectives.
3. Ausable was a detective in Paris who was fat and sloppy and hardly looked like a secret agent.
4. When Ausable switched on the light, he found Max standing with a pistol in his hand in the room.
5. Max had come to take a particularly important report concerning missiles forcibly from Ausable.
6. Ausable cooked up a false story to entrap crafty Max.
7. He told Max that the balcony below his window had become a big nuisance.
8. It was the second time in a month that somebody got into his room through the balcony.
9. He also made Max panicky by telling him that the knocks at the door were of the police, whom he had already informed.
10. When Max became panicky, he came to the window and jumped out of it.
11. A loud cry was heard and in this way, Ausable got rid of his crafty enemy.
12. Later on, it was found that the knocks at the door were made by the waiter, who entered the room with a bottle and two glasses as ordered by Ausable.
Short Answer Questions :
Question. How did Max go out of Ausable’s room to save himself from the police?
Answer. Max was very nervous to find the police at the door. He went out of the window saying that he would wait in the balcony. He warned Ausable to send them away or he would shoot him. Max did not confirm the balcony and stepped out of the window and died.
Question. What made the story of the balcony so convincing?
Answer. 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.
Question. Why did Max enter Ausable’s room ? How did he do so ?
Answer. Max entered Ausable’s room to take a ‘report’ regarding the new missiles. It was the report that was to be delivered to Ausable that night. He did so by using a pass key to enter in Ausable's absence.
Question. Who was Max ? How did Ausable get rid of him ?
Answer. Max was a secret agent who came for secret papers on missiles. Ausable outwitted him by making a false story that the police might have come to provide him security for the important paper and also a story about the balcony. Max tried to escape through it and died.
Question. How do you know that Ausable was an intelligent secret agent ?
Answer. Ausable was intelligent secret agent, as he could easily fabricate stories and befoot his enemies and kill them without using any weapon. He is very fat and short but he is much alert in the mind. Actually he uses his mind to the maximum. He did not get nervous when Max entered the room with an automatic pistol. Rather he was easily able to outwit Max.
Question. How did Max try to escape ? What happened to him ?
Answer. Max wanted to hide himself on the balcony. He put his leg over the window and jumped on to the balcony.He dropped to the balcony, screamed loudly and died, because in reality there was no balcony.
Question. What great qualities made Ausable a successful secret agent ?
Answer. Ausable was a secret agent in an organization. He was alert and resourceful. He was a cool-headed person and had a lot of presence of mind. He was an American and could also speak German and French.
Question. How did Ausable kill Max without using a weapon?
Answer. 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.
Long Answer Questions :
Question. Describe the incident leading to the death of Max.
Answer. Ausable was a secret agent. He was living in a French hotel. His room was on the sixth and top floor of the hotel. One evening a young writer named Fowler came to meet him. When they entered the room and switched on the light, they found a man standing in the center of the room. He had a pistol in his hand. His name was Max. He came there to grab the important report from Ausable. Seeing Max, Ausable remained cool and silent. But he seemed to be angry with the management of the hotel. He said that because of the balcony just below his window anyone could enter the writ. When there was a sudden knock at the door, Ausable said that it might be the police. He said that he himself had called the police. Max jumped through the window to the balcony. But in reality, there was no balcony. So, Max fell down to the ground from the sixth floor and was killed.
Question. Give a character sketch of Ausable.
Answer. Ausable was a smart, intelligent man who was an expert secret agent. He was very fat and sloppy. He spoke in an American accent which he had brought from Boston twenty years ago. He could speak French and German but possibly he was a spy who dealt in espionage and danger. He had a very important paper for which several men and women had risked their lives and even Max had come for that paper. He was quick witted and had a great presence of mind. He cooked up a police story and of the balcony to befool Max. The story was so convincing that Max jumped down the window. Not for a moment did he think that it might be a fabricated story. In other words, he proved to be quite dangerous for Max, though he had a great sense of humour when he talked to Fowler. Ausable was very witty who fabricated stories on the spot with the presence of his mind. He narrated stories in such a cool manner that everybody believed him and nobody suspected him even once.
Question. Write a character sketch of the secret Agent Ausable.
Answer.Ausable was a secret agent. He was fat and sloppy fellow. In his appearance, he did not seem to be a romantic figure. He came to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. He could speak French and German passably. He had not lost the American accent. Ausable was a very intelligent person. He had a great presence of mind. He did not lose heart in a difficult situation when he faced a man with a pistol in his hand. He remained cool. He cocked-up a story about the balcony. He made Max nervous by telling him about the police. He got Max killed without any fighting and shooting. Fowler who was disappointed to meet him at the beginning of the story was very much impressed with his intelligence and presence of mind at the end of the story.
