Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Horace dandy failed to get enough information about real residents of the house. He was so much occupied with collecting information about house map, wiring and location of valuable things etc. that he forgot one main aspect. Though he was smart enough to know the dog’s actual name but overlooked getting identify of each and every residents of the house. Once he was in the problem then probably his clever mind gave a way to carelessness that leading him to open the safe without wearing gloves.
What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Did you begin to suspect, before the end of the story, that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be? If so, at what point did you realise this, and how?
“Horace Danby was good and respectable — but not completely honest”. Why do you think this description is apt for Horace? Why can’t he be categorised as a typical thief?
What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the lady of the house? Why doesn’t Horace suspect that something is wrong?
Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Why does he steal every year?
Who is the real culprit in the story?
Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
How did the invisible man first become visible?
How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?
What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy?
Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?
Why is Bholi’s father worried about her?
Why was the twentieth century called the ‘Era of the Book’?
Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?
Does she find her teacher different from the people at home?
How has Max got in?
What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
What kind of a person do you think the narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is? Would you say he is tactful as well as full of commonsense?
Who tried to invade the earth in the twenty-first century?
How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room? Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?
Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for a ride?
How can one become a scientist, an economist, a historian... ? Does it simply involve reading many books on the subject? Does it involve observing, thinking and doing experiments?
What experiments and projects does he then undertake?
Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is it that no one lets out the secret? (Hint: Notice that the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep out of sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s.) Can you find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates the tour?