Summary of The Midnight Visitor Class 10 Footprints without Feet

Answer

Fowler was a young romantic writer. He came to meet a secret agent, Ausable, in his office. Actually, he had come to gather necessary material for his book on secret agents. Like all people, Fowler had also formed quite a romantic picture of the secret agent as represented in books and films. Ausable didn’t fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read or imagined. Fowler felt let down. Ausable’s office was in a small room, on the sixth and top floor. He was a sloppy fat man. He had an American accent. Ausable himself felt that Fowler was disappointed after meeting him.

Ausable told Fowler that he had a very important ‘paper’ in his custody. Someday that paper might well affect the course of history. Then, Ausable switched on the light. Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day. He saw a man with a small automatic pistol in his hand.

Ausable was stunned to see Max in his room with a P’ pistol He had thought he was in Berlin. Max was slender, crafty and had the face of a fox. There was nothing menacing about Max except his pistol. Max demanded the important report concerning some new missiles that were in the custody of Ausable. He wanted to take it from Ausable.

On the spur of the moment, Ausable cooked up a story. He told Fowler and Max that his balcony below the window had become a big nuisance. It was the second time in a month that somebody had got into his room from there. Max showed his ignorance about the balcony and told that he entered through a passkey. Ausable told Max that the balcony actually belonged to the other apartment. It extended under his window.

Max was standing erect not far from Ausable. He was waving his pistol with a commanding gesture. Soon, he heard a knocking at the door. Ausable cooked up another story at once. He told Max that it should be the police. He had a very important paper with him. It needed a little extra protection. He had told the police to check on him to make sure that everything was all right. Fowler jumped aside. Max bit his lip nervously. Ausable threatened Max that the police would enter soon as the door was unlocked. They would not hesitate to shoot.

Max was nervous. He asked Ausable to send the police away or he would not hesitate to shoot. The knocking at the door became louder. Max kept his body twisted and pointed his gun at Ausable and Fowler. He put another leg over the windowsill. Then in desperation, he jumped out. As he dropped, he screamed once, shrilly.

The door opened and a waiter stood there with a tray, a bottle and two glasses. Actually, it was not the police but it was the waiter whom Ausable had already ordered. Fowler was still white-faced. He asked about the man who jumped out on the balcony. Ausable assured Fowler that Max would not return as there was no balcony below the window.

Answer

• Fowler was a young and romantic writer.
• He wanted to meet Ausable because he wanted to write a book on detectives.
• Ausable was a detective in Paris who was fat and sloppy and hardly looked like a secret agent.
• When Ausable switched on the light, he found Max standing with a pistol in his hand in the room.
• Max had come to take a particularly important report concerning missiles forcibly from Ausable.
• Ausable cooked up a false story to entrap crafty Max.
• He told Max that the balcony below his window had become a big nuisance.
• It was the second time in a month that somebody got into his room through the balcony.
• He also made Max panicky by telling him that the knockings at the door of the police, whom he had already informed.
• When Max become panicky, he came to the window and jumped out of it.
• A loud cry was heard and in this way, Ausable got rid of his crafty enemy.
• Later on, it was found that the knockings at the door were made by the waiter, who entered the room with a bottle and two glasses as ordered by Ausable.

Answer

Ausable: He is a different kind of secret agent. Generally, secret agents that are described in detective books and shown in films, are very smart and gun-friendly. Wine and dark-eyed beauties are associated with them. However, Ausable doesn’t present such a romantic picture. He is very fat and sloppy. Physically, he may be fat but mentally he is very agile and quick-witted. He knows all the tricks of his trade. He is very quick to react and can cook up stories that may fit in all kinds of situations. He convinces even the crafty Max that there is a balcony below the window of his room.

Max: Max is a secret agent and a rival and enemy of Ausable. He is slender, a little less than tall. He appears to be crafty and has the countenance of a fox. There is nothing especially menacing about him except his pistol. He enters Ausable’s room to take away a very important paper concerning some new missiles.

Fowler: Fowler is a young and romantic writer. He wants to write a book on detectives. Fowler forms a very romantic and grand picture of a secret agent in his mind. He finds Ausable not cracking pistols or surrounded by dark-eyed beauties like James Bond. He feels let down after meeting Ausable.

Answer

आसवल एक गुप्तचर था बह एक फ्रैंच होटल में ठैहरा हुआ था एक युवा और रोमांच कारी लेखक , जिसका नाम फाउलर था उससे मिलने आया फाउलर आसवल को देखकर निराश हुआ बह पिलपला मोटा व्यक्ति था उसका कमरा उस दुर्गन्ध और अँधेरे बाले होटल की सबसे ऊपरी और छती मंजिल पर था जब उन दोनों ने कमरे में प्रवेश किया और आसवल ने विजली जलाई , तो उन्होंने ने पाया कि कमरे के बीच में एक आदमी खड़ा था उसके हाथ में एक पिस्तौल थी फाउलर के लिए यह उस दिन का पहला रोमांच था बन्दूक बाले उस व्यक्ति का नाम मैक्स था

उसने कहा कि यह बहां आसवल से बह गुप्त सूचना छीनने आया है जिसको प्राप्त करने की बह प्रतीच्छा क्र रहा था आसवल शांत और ठंडा रहा यह होटल के प्रवंधको के प्रति गुस्सा करता प्रतीत हुआ उसने छज्जे के बारे में एक मनगढंत कहानी बनाई उसने उसे बताया कि उसके कमरे की खिड़की के नीचे एक छज्जा है और पिछले महीने भी एक अनजान व्यक्ति छज्जे के रास्ते से उसके कमरे में घुस गया था

मैक्स ने आसवल को बताया कि उसने कमरे में प्रवेश करने के लिए गुप्त चाबी का प्रयोग किया उसने इच्छा व्यक्त की कि उसने भी छज्जे के रास्ते से प्रवेश किया होता यह कुछ ज्यादा आसान होता

रिपोर्ट (सूचना) आने में अभी आधा घंटा शेष था दरवाजे पर अचानक जोर की दस्तक हुई आसवल मुस्कुराया उसने कहा कि यह अवशय ही पुलिस होगी क्योकि उसने ही उन्हें इतनी महत्तीपूर्ण सूचना की सुरछा के लिए बुलाया था

मैक्स घबरा गया बह खिड़की से छज्जे के ऊपर कूदा लेकिन जैसा आसवल ने बताया था बहा कोई छज्जा नहीं था बह छठी मंजिल से नीचे जमीन पर जा गिरा और मारा गया

तब दरवाजा खुला बैरे ने ट्रे, शराब की बोतल और दो गिलास लेकर कमरे मे प्रवेश किया आसवल ने इन चीजों के लिए आदेश दिया था वैरा चला गया फाउलर को छज्जे के बारे मे कुछ मालूम नहीं थाउसे डर था कि मैक्स जल्दी ही छज्जे से वापस प्रवेश कर जाएगा लेकिन आसवल ने उसे सच्चाई बताई कि बह कभी वापस नहीं आएगा इस प्रकार फाउलर उसकी चतुराई और सूझ बुझ से वहुत अधिक प्रभाबित हुआ