When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for Lutkins? When do you think Bill came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
Lutkins was a clever and cunning man. He did the whole act of helping the lawyer by finding Oliver lutkins. This tells that he never disclosed his true or real identity to unknown persons. Moreover, being a cheat as he is it seems his regular practice to dupe people who are the newcomers.
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?
What does he say about Lutkins?
Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer?
Who is Lutkins?
Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
Who befriends him? Where does he take him?
What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?
After his first day’s experience with the hack driver the lawyer thinks of returning to New Mullion to practise law. Do you think he would have reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for a ride?
Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
What does Horace Danby like to collect?
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 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?
Why are books referred to as a man’s best companion? Which is your favourite book and why? Write a paragraph about that book.
Is the narrator as rich as Tricki’s mistress?
Who tried to invade the earth in the twenty-first century?
What lesson does Ebright learn when he does not win anything at a science fair?
“Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)
Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
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?
How does Ausable say he got in?
“Griffin was rather a lawless person.” Comment.
Does Bholi enjoy her first day at school?