CBSE Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet - The Hack Driver Summary & Notes

According to the CBSE Syllabus 2023-24, this chapter has been removed from NCERT Class 10 English (Footprints Without Feet Supplementary Reader) textbook.

Summary of The Hack Driver

The Hack Driver is an amusing narrative about an innocent lawyer who goes to a village in search of Oliver Lutkins and roams around with the help of a hack driver. In the end, the lawyer ends up being fooled by the hack driver, who was Lutkins himself. Here’s the prose summary of this chapter explained in CBSE English Notes Class 10 format. CBSE Class 10 students can have a look at the prose summary of The Hack Driver here.

Students can also practice CBSE Essays on various topics to improve their writing section for the English exam.

CBSE Class 10 English The Hack Driver Summary

The Hack Driver was written by Sinclair Lewis, who was the first American novelist to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930. This delightful tale is about a naive lawyer who started working as a junior assistant clerk in a famous law firm in the city post his graduation. He hated the job of serving summons as he had to confront unpleasant situations. One fine day, he had to visit a village, New Mullion, to serve a summons to Oliver Lutkins, who was a prime witness in some law case. Although he was happy to visit the village, he lost interest when he saw that it was a dull and lifeless place.

Soon enough, he noticed a cheerful hack driver at the railway station who appeared to be friendly. He quickly inquired about Lutkins and learnt from the driver that Lutkins was a notorious man who had borrowed funds from many people. The hack driver introduced himself as Bill Magnuson and deftly extracted the information from the lawyer on the exact purpose of his visit. To this, the ignorant lawyer replied that he visited New Mullion to offer court summons to Lutkins for a law case.

The lawyer found Bill to be a helpful man and decided to rent his hack to go in search of Lutkins. They visited several places, and Bill offered to help the lawyer as they roamed around the village to locate Lutkins. At first, they went to Fritz’s shop as that was the common place where Lutkins could be mostly found playing poker. When they reached there, the owner said that Lutkins must have gone to Gustaff, the barber, for shaving.

Subsequently, at Gustaff’s place, too, he was not found either, and someone guided them to look out for him in the pool room. However, when they reached there, they missed him only by five minutes as Lutkins just bought a pack of cigarettes and left. Soon, it was lunchtime and as the lawyer was hungry, Bill offered to buy lunch from his wife to avoid the greasy food of the restaurant. Both of them had lunch at Wade’s Hill, and Bill talked all about New Mullion, and they enjoyed the beautiful view while enjoying their food.

The lawyer was already convinced that Bill was a noble and supportive man. He even compared the people of the village with the ones living in the city. Later, they visited Lutkins mother’s house, but they found her to be a dreadful lady who started chasing them with a hot iron. Soon, it was time for the lawyer to catch the return train to the city. He was grateful to Bill for his helpful nature. Thereafter, Bill dropped him at the railway station, and the lawyer paid him the dues for booking the ride.

When the lawyer visited his office, he was scolded by his Chief and ordered to visit New Mullion the following day with a colleague who knew Lutkins. When they reached the station, the lawyer saw Bill and acknowledged him for his cooperative nature, who tried to help him in looking out for Lutkins. Hearing this, the colleague replied in surprise that the hack driver was Oliver Lutkins himself. The lawyer was ashamed that he was fooled by Lutkins as he served the summons to him. Lutkins and his mother laughed at the lawyer’s foolishness and invited him for coffee at a neighbour’s place, which he had missed visiting the previous day.

Conclusion of The Hack Driver

The Hack Driver teaches us a major life lesson we should not trust anyone blindly without knowing them; otherwise, we may end up getting fooled. This CBSE Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Prose Summary of The Hack Driver will help you to have a thorough understanding of the chapter. Meanwhile, you can visit BYJU’S to access resources on CBSE Notes and CBSE study material and access question papers, sample papers, etc., for your Board exams preparation. You can also download BYJU’S: The Learning App for educational content.