The Midnight Visitor

The Midnight Visitor

1. Why had Fowler wanted to meet Ausable?
Ans: Fowler was a young and romantic writer. He wants to know about the life of secret agent. He had read that secret agents had mysterious looks. So he wanted to meet Ausable who was a secret agent.  

2. Why was Fowler disappointed on seen Ausable?

Ans. He had read that secret agents had mysterious looks. But hwen he met Ausable, he found him only an ordinary person. He was a fat sloppy person. He was not at all romantic like other secret agents.

3. Describe Fowler’s reaction after entering Ausable’s hotel room. [CBSE 2014]
Ans. Initially, Ausable got a shock to see Max in his room. But he remained calm. Max also had a pistol with him, so Ausable didn’t try anything fishy. He just kept his cool and fooled Max by using his brain to invent stories.

4. ‘Ausable shows great presence of mind in a situation of danger and surprise.” Do you agree with this statement? If yes, why?

Ans. Yes, I agree with this statement that Ausable showed great presence of mind. When he entered his room, he found Max with a pistol in his hand. Max pointed the gun at him. But he remained calm and cool. He at once wove a story of the balcony to fool Max into jumping to his death.

5. Why did Max’s face turn black with anger? What did he want Ausable to do? [CBSE 2012]

Ans. Henry, the waiter, came to Ausable’s room with a drink. But he knocke at the door before coming in. Ausable tols Max that it could be the police. Thus Max’s face turned black with anger because he felt that his plan of extracting the important document from Ausable was in danger of failing. He wanted Ausable to send the police away.

6. Why did Ausable frame the story of the balcony? [CBSE 2012]

Ans: Ausable framed the story of the balcony to get rid of Max. in the end we also say that he made Max jump out of the window and thus lead to his death. If he had not done so Max would have been able to get the important report about the new missiles.

7. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room?
Ans: He creates a detailed description of his office. He said that once his office used to be a part of a bigger apartment and the next door room had a direct connection with the balcony outside the window of his room. He said that somebody else had also broken into his office through that balcony. Thus Ausable manages to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room by

8. Who actually had knocked at the door of Ausable’s room? Why did he come there? [CBSE 2010]
Ans: It was the waiter, Henry who had knocked at the door of Ausable’s room. He had brought the drinks which Ausable had ordered for.  

9. What great quality made Ausable a successful secret agent?

Ans. There is no doubt that Ausable was a great secret agent. He was alert and resourceful. He was a cool hearted person. He had a great presence of mind. He had been living in Paris for the last twenty years but he did not forget the American accent.

10. Who was Max? How did Ausable get rid of him?

Ans. Max was a secret agent who came to take the secret papers on missiles. Ausable invented a false story of the balcony. There is a knock at the door. Ausable said that it could be the police. Max jumped on to the balcony to hide himself. But there was no balcony. Thus he got rid of Max.

11. How did Max try to escape? What happened to him?

Ans. 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, gave a loud scream and died.