Last Updated on August 27, 2023 by Admin
Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 4 A Question of Trust by Victor Canning
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 4 A Question of Trust by Victor Canning
Read and Find Out 1
Q1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Ans: Horace Danby liked to collect rare and expensive books.
Q2. Why does he steal every year?
Ans: He loved rare, expensive books. So he robbed a safe every year. Each year he planned carefully just what he would do, stole enough to last for twelve months, and secretly bought the books he loved through an agent.
Read and Find Out 2
Q1. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Ans: A lady standing in the doorway was speaking to Horace Danby. She was young and pretty, and was dressed in red. She said she had come just in time, or else her family would have been robbed by Horace. She, thus, pretended to be one of the members of the family living at Shotover Grange.
Q2. Who is the real culprit in the story?
Ans: The real culprit was the woman who pretended to be a member of the family living at Shotover Grange. She tricked Horace into believing her, and cleverly took away all the jewels that were kept in the safe.
Think about it
Q1. Did you begin to suspect, before the end of the story, that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be? If so, at what point did you realise this, and how?
Ans: Yes, one does begin to suspect before the end of the story that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be. She was unusually calm on seeing Horace. This seemed strange enough. When she did not call the police, and instead asked Horace to take out all the jewels from the safe, even if it meant breaking it open, it seemed suspicious. Moreover, it also seemed unlikely that she would forget the numbers to open the safe. Therefore, it was evident, before the story ended, that the lady was not the person Horace had taken her to be.
Q2. What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the lady of the house? Why doesn’t Horace suspect that something is wrong?
Ans: The lady’s confident walk, her familiarity with the dog Sherry, her act of touching up her make-up and the ease with which she picks a cigarette from the right place are enough to deceive Horace into thinking that she was the lady of the house. Horace does not suspect anything as he was too frightened to think properly.
Q3. “Horace Danby was good and respectable — but not completely honest”. Why do you think this description is apt for Horace? Why can’t he be categorised as a typical thief ?
Ans: ‘Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest’, is an apt description for Horace. He was a respectable lockmaker who had good reputation in the society. But Horace was also an unusual thief. He had a hobby of collecting rare and expensive books which he fulfilled by robbing a safe every year. Thus, he was not a completely honest man. Horace cannot be categorised as a typical thief because he was not a regular offender. He robbed once a year and only took what was required.
Q4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why ?
Ans: It is true that Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but he had faltered in the robbery he was carrying out in Shotover Grange. This failure was because of the lady in red who deceived and tricked Horace into believing that she was the lady of the house. Horace who had carefully planned the robbery did not care to get any information about the housemates. Consequently, he blindly believed that the lady in red was the lady of the house. So when she suddenly appeared, Horace carelessly opened the safe without his gloves.
Talk About It
Q1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got ?
Ans: I think Horace Danby deserved what he got. A crime is a crime, no matter if it is committed for your own benefit or for somebody else’s benefit.
Q2. Do intentions justify actions? Would you, like Horace Danby, do something wrong if you thought your ends justified the means? Do you think that there are situations in which it is excusable to act less than honestly ?
Ans: Ends do not justify means’ is a very old and time tested saying to reach one’s own profitable or good end, one should never harm others. Our intentions never justify our means. Horace Danby by opening a safe wanted to help a lady. But in his act Horace forgot that he was committing a crime and thus was caught by the police. We, then, must remember that a crime is a crime no matter the intention. No, unlike Horace Danby, I would never do something wrong if the end justified the means.
I hope that you would have enjoyed NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 4 A Question of Trust by Victor Canning. If you have any query regarding this chapter, please feel free to get in touch with me through comment box or social media and I assure you to resolve all your queries related to the topic as soon as possible.