The Midnight Visitor by Robert Arthur

  3. The Midnight Visitor by Robert Arthur (notes prepared by Shish Pal Chauhan)

Q1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?

Ans. Ausable is very fat. He looks like an ordinary person. Normally secret agents have a very smart look. They carry a pistol. Ausable does not carry any pistol. Thus he looks different from other secret agents.

Q2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day? 

Ans. Fowler is a writer. He wants some exciting material to write a story on the life of secret agents. He had his first thrill of the day. He found another person with a pistol in Ausable’s room.

Q3. How has Max got into Ausable’s room?

Ans. Max got into Ausable’s room through the door. He used a pass key to open the door.

Q4. Why did Fowler want to meet Ausable? Why was he disappointed?

Ans. Fowler wanted to meet Ausable. He had a plan to write a story on the life of a secret agent. He had expected Ausable to be a mysterious type of person, having a pistol with him. But he found him fat and ordinary person. So Fowler was disappointed.             

Q5. How was the episode of meeting Max a thrilling experience to Fowler?

Ans. It must have been a very thrilling experience for Fowler. As the door was opened, Max was waiting in front of them with a gun in his hands. He threatened to kill both of them.

Q6. Write a few sentences about Max.

Ans. Max was another secret agent. He was a long and thin person. The features on his face showed that he was as cunning as a fox. He had a gun with him. He had come to Ausable’s room to snatch the report on missiles.

Q7. What did Ausable say about the balcony to Max?

Ans. First, he showed some anger. Then he said that it was for the second time that a person entered his room through the balcony. He called the balcony a nuisance (that creates trouble). He would raise the issue with the management.

Q8. What did Ausable say to Max when there was a knocking at the door? Who was there in reality? Why did Ausable tell a lie to Max?

Ans. There was a knocking at the door. It alerted Max. He asked Ausable as to who could be there. Ausable told Max that it was the police. But it was Henry, the waiter. Ausable told a lie to befool Max.

Q9. How did Ausable get rid of Max?

Ans. Max thought that there was a balcony just below the window. Then there was a knock at the door. Ausable told him that it could be the police. So Max jumped out of the window to wait at the balcony. He fell down and died because there was no balcony.

Q10. What was the paper about which Ausable told Fowler while entering the room? 

Ans. Ausable told Fowler that it was a very important paper regarding missiles. Several men and women had risked their lives for getting it. He also said that it might affect the course of history.

Q11. Who was Henry? What important role did he play in the story?

Ans. Henry was a waiter. Ausable had ordered some drinks. He had come to deliver them. But he played very important role. He helped Ausable in getting rid of Max.

Long Answer-type Qs &Ans. (Notes prepared by Shish Pal Chauhan)

Q1. Describe how Ausable outwitted Max.

Ans. Ausable was to receive an important paper. So he was to wait for it in a room in a French hotel. But as he opened the door, he found another secret agent, Max, standing in front of him with a revolver. Ausable was stunned (very much surprised). He, at once, made up a story. First, he told Max that there was a balcony just below the window of his room. Then he told another lie to him. He said that the knocking was done by the police. In a panic, Max jumped out of the window to stand and wait there at the balcony. But there was no balcony. So he killed himself.

Q2. Attempt a character sketch of Ausable.

Ans. Ausable was a typical secret agent. He did not look smart because he was fat. But he had the qualities of being a smart secret agent. He was a cool-minded person. He did not lose his wits when Max stood before him with a pistol. He, at once, made up a story. First, he told Max that there was a balcony just below the window of his room. Then he told another lie to him. He said that the knocking was done by the police. In a panic, Max jumped out of the window to stand and wait there at the balcony. But there was no balcony. Thus he proved himself a better secret agent. He outwitted Max.

Very Very short Qs & Ans.

1.      The writer of ‘ The Midnight Visitor’ is Robert Arthur

2.      The Midnight visitor was Max.

3.      Ausable was a secret agent.

4.      Max was also a secret agent

5.      Max got into Ausable’s room through the door by opening it a pass-key.

6.      A writer, Fowler, came to meet Ausable.

7.      Fowler was  ROMANTIC writer. He wanted to write a story on the life of secret agents.

8.      Ausable was staying in a French hotel in Paris.

9.      The paper was about missiles.