Summary of The Midnight Visitor
Chapter 3 of the Class 10 English Supplementary Reader ‘Footprints Without Feet’ consists of a prose piece titled The Midnight Visitor. This is a story about how a witty detective outwits another agent with his composure. We have followed the CBSE English Notes Class 10 format while drafting the prose summary. CBSE Class 10 students can access the CBSE Class 10 English Prose Notes & Summary – The Midnight Visitor as they gear up for their Board exams.
Students can also practice CBSE Essays on various topics to improve their writing section for the English exam.
CBSE Class 10 English The Midnight Visitor Summary
The Midnight Visitor is a detective story written by Robert Arthur. The story is about a quick-witted secret agent Ausable. One day, he and his writer friend Fowler had gone out to spend an evening together. As the two men talked, Ausable told him that Fowler must have imagined him to be a secret agent who dealt with espionage and danger and envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols and drugs in the wine. On the contrary, when Fowler met Ausable, he found the latter to be a chubby-looking spy who spoke French and German moderately with an American accent ever since he moved from Paris to Boston twenty years ago.
Soon, both of them headed towards Ausable’s room; he unlocked the door and switched on the light. When they entered the room, Fowler was startled to see a man holding a small automatic pistol halfway across the room. Ausable immediately recognised the other man to be Max, a secret agent. Max had come to demand the report related to missiles that Ausable was expecting. Meanwhile, Fowler was in a state of shock, and this was by far the most audacious experience for him to meet a secret agent in such a manner.
In the meantime, Ausable began his hypothetical story of the balcony beneath the window of the room to divert Max’s attention. Just then, somebody knocked at the door, and it continued until the thumping became louder and more frequent. Ausable said that the police might have come to visit him as they did on a regular basis. Hearing this, Max was confused, and while he pointed his gun towards the other two men in the room, he said he would wait on the balcony until the police left.
Max warned that he would shoot them if they didn’t listen to him. Saying so, he jumped out of the window, and suddenly there was a loud scream. Meanwhile, Ausable opened the door, and the waiter brought some wine that he had ordered. The waiter kept the wine bottle, glasses and tray on the top of the table and left. Fowler was surprised to see all this and asked him about the police. To this, Ausable lied about the police as he was trying to intimidate Max. Fowler again asked that Max must be waiting on the balcony, to which Ausable said there was no balcony attached to his window. He cooked up the entire story about the balcony in order to convince Max to believe him, which he blindly did.
This story exhibits how quick-witted Ausable took advantage of the dangerous situation and was successful in making Max nervous. Distraught, Max jumped out of the window and fell to his death unknowingly. Although Ausable didn’t look like a well-groomed spy like we see in movies, he was an ingenious secret agent. He outwitted Max and successfully saved himself and his friend, Fowler, from a life-threatening situation.
Conclusion of The Midnight Visitor
The Midnight Visitor illustrates the fact that one should not panic in a critical situation but rather stay focused to take a wise step in averting the problems with a good presence of mind. We are hoping this CBSE Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Prose Summary of The Midnight Visitor has helped students to get a detailed insight into the chapter. You can also check BYJU’S for useful resources on CBSE Notes and CBSE study material and access different years’ question papers. Download BYJU’S: The Learning App for more engaging content.
Frequently Asked Questions on CBSE Class 10 English: The Midnight Visitor
Who is the author of ‘The Midnight Visitor’?
The author of the story ‘The Hundred Dresses’ is Robert Arthur.
Why is it necessary to always have a good presence of mind?
The presence of the mind is very important in every aspect of life, which means having self-control in stressful situations along with the ability to think and act calmly even if chaos or conflict surrounds us.
What are the main reasons for intimidation?
People can be intimidated for many reasons, such as reputation, body and verbal language, unpredictability, reputation or uncertainty about the value they have to the other person.
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