A QUESTION OF TRUST--Class 10 English

(FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET) By Victor Canning

Introduction to the lesson

The story is about a man named Horace Danby who is 50 years old and everyone around him
thinks he is a good and an honest man. He used to build locks and used to earn enough profit so
that he could hire two servants to help him. He was sent to jail once about 15 years ago because
he used to commit robberies every year. This year, when he goes to a house for robbery, he
meets a woman who pretends to be the owner of the house. Later when he leaves from there and
is arrested after 2-3 days, he comes to know the truth of that lady. (It is said that you must set a
thief to catch a thief. But it is also said that there is honour among thieves. Which saying does
this story illustrate?)

Theme of the Lesson

The central idea is that cheats also expect honesty in their profession. On the same mission to rob
a home safe, two experienced thieves and burglars come face to face. They both went to great
lengths to ensure that the theft would go off without a hitch.

A Question of Trust --Summary

The story is about a 50 year old man who makes locks and lives with his housekeeper. He is a
good citizen but not an honest one as he commits a robbery every year. He plans his robberies in
such a way that the money he gets from there lasts him for at least an year and he is able to buy
rare and expensive books with it. He buys these books because he is really fond of collecting rare
and expensive books. He plans to commit a robbery at a grange named Shotover Grange. He
takes all the information about the house like where the family had gone, how many servants
were there in the house, what was the name of the dog, the wiring in the house, the safe in the
house and even information like how much worth of jewels were there in the safe. The real twist
in the story comes when he reaches the grange to commit a robbery and a woman claiming to be
the owner’s wife enters. She gives him an option that she will forget that she had seen him if he
opens the safe for her as she has forgotten the code of the safe and has to go to a party. He does
not realize that he is opening the safe for another thief and that she is not the actual owner of the
house. He leaves happily thinking that he is safe but doesn’t realize the fact that he had opened
the safe for someone else that too without wearing his gloves. 3 days later a police officer comes
and arrests him saying that his fingerprints had been found at the shotover grange. He then
realizes that he had been fooled by a lady who was herself a thief and from the same background
as his. He is sent to the jail and becomes an assistant librarian. He feels angry whenever someone
talks about honour among thieves as he had been cheated by one from his own community.
THINKING ABOUT TEXT

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 that the woman is not who she claims to be. She was
unusually calm on seeing Horace near the locker. Then she doesn’t even call the police and also
asks him to open the locker for her even if it means breaking it open as she had forgotten the
code of the safe. It is very unusual that someone forgets the passcode to their own locker.

OR

Yes, we 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. 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 seems suspicious. Moreover, it seemed highly unlikely that she would
forget the number combination 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 way she walks up to the doorway, starts talking to him, arranges the ornaments in their
right place and picks up the silver cigarette box with so much confidence can make anyone
believe that she is the lady of the house. Apart from that, Horace had become nervous and
frightened when he saw the woman in the doorway and due to that he could not 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?
Answer:
Horace’s habits were not typical of a thief. He was fond of books. He used to steal only once in a
year so he was never stealing more than his needs. However, an act of theft is still a crime, no
matter how well a thief behaves, so this description is apt for Horace. He can’t be categorised as
a typical thief because he is not a regular offender like other thieves.

Q4.Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong
and why?

Ans) The place where he went wrong was that he did not gather enough information about the
real occupants of the house. He gathered all the information about the tracks, wirings, gardens,
servants and even the dog’s name but he still forgot to overlook the identities of the house
owners. He even took out the information of the valuables inside the safe. Once he got into a
problem, he could not even think properly and carelessly opened the safe and touched many
things in the room without wearing his gloves.
 Extract Based Questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
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.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why did ‘he’ rob only one safe every year?
(c) Find the word from the extract that means the opposite of ‘openly’.
(d) What is the present tense of ‘stole’?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ in the above extract is Horace Danby.
(b) He robbed only one safe every year because he robbed just enough to satisfy his hobby of
buying and collecting rare and expensive books. Otherwise, he was just an honest lock-maker.
(c) The word is ‘secretly’.
(d) Its present tense is ‘steal’.

Question 2.
A small dog was lying in the kitchen. It stirred, made a noise, and moved its tail in a
friendly way.
(a) What is the name of the dog mentioned in the above extract?
(b) In which house is the kitchen referred to located?
(c) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘cordial’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘friendly’?
Answer:
(a) The name of the dog mentioned in the above extract is Sherry.
(b) The kitchen referred to is located in Shotover Grange.
(c) The word is ‘friendly’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘hostile’.

Question 3.
The voice went on, “You can cure it with a special treatment, you know, if you find out just what
plant gives you the disease. I think you’d better see a doctor, if you’re serious about your work.”
(a) Whose voice is referred to in the above extract?
(b) What disease was the voice referring to?
(c) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘ailment’.
(d) What part Of speech is the word ‘it’ in the extract?
Answer:
(a) The voice referred to in the above extract is of the young lady who pretended to be a member
of the household.
(b) The disease the voice was referring to was hay fever, with which Horace Danby was
afflicted.
(c) The word is ‘disease’.
(d) ‘It’ is a pronoun.
Question 4.
She laughed, and he begged, thinking that he had persuaded her, “Look, I have no right to
ask you for anything, but I’m desperate.”
(a) Who are ‘she1 and ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why did ‘he’ say that he was desperate?
(c) Find a word in the passage that means the same as ‘convinced1.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘persuaded’?
Answer:
(a) ‘She’ is young lady who Horace met in the house and ‘he’ is Horace Danby.
(b) Horace was desperate because he had been caught stealing and did not want to go to prison.
(c) The word is ‘persuaded’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘dissuaded’

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Whom did Horace Danby see in the kitchen? How did they greet each other? What tact did
Horace apply there?
Answer:
Horace Danby saw the family dog, Sherry, in the kitchen. The dog greeted Horace by stirring,
making a noise and wagging its tail in a friendly way. Horace greeted the dog by tactfully
calming it down, calling it by its name and showing love to it.

Question 2.
How did Danby prepare for the robbery at Shotover Grange?
or
How did Horace Danby plan his robberies?
Answer:
Danby always planned his robberies meticulously. He prepared for the robbery at Shotover
Grange by studying the house, the electric wiring, paths and garden. He knew that the family
normally lived in the city and knew about the movement of the servants, who had gone out that
afternoon. He had kept his tools ready, packed in a bag.

Question 3.
What was the passion of Horace Danby and how did he satisfy it?
Answer:
The passion of Horace Danby was collecting rare and expensive books. To satisfy this passion,
he needed money and arranged it by robbing one safe every year and then secretly buying the
books through an agent.

Question 4.
Describe the safe at Shotover Grange.
or
Where was the safe at Shotover Grange? What was there inside it? What did Horace expect to
get if he sold them one by one?
Answer:
The safe at Shotover Grange was kept in the drawing room behind a poor painting and had
jewels worth about 15000 pounds kept in it. It had a poorly built burglar alarm, but could be
opened only through a specific code. Horace expected to get 5000 pounds if he sold the jewels
one by one

Question 5.
How can you say that Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest?
Answer:
Horace Danby was good and respectable because he was an expert in his profession of making
locks. However, as he loved collecting rare and expensive books, he robbed a safe every year to
finance the purchase of these books through an agent. Thus he was not completely honest

Question 6.
How did flowers hinder Horace in his work?
Answer:
Flowers hindered Horace in his work because he had hay fever, a disorder affecting the nose and
throat, caused by allergy to pollen or dust. Due to this problem, whenever he came close to
flowers, he began to sneeze’ and could be caught. He had to cover his face.

Question 7.
Why was Horace Danby sure that his robbery at Shotover Grange woukhbe a successful one?
Answer:
Horace Danby was sure that his robbery at Shotover Grange would be a successful one because
he had studied the house, the drawing room where the safe was kept, the wiring and its garden.
He had also studied the movement of the servants, so he had planned well, thus ensuring that
nothing could go wrong.

Question 8.
Why does Horace Danby get angry when anyone talks about ‘honour among thieves’?
Answer:
When anyone talks about ‘honour among thieves’, Horace Danby gets angry because the young
lady who cheated him was also a thief, yet did not follow this saying.

Question 9.
What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she
is the mistress of the house?
Answer:
The subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the
mistress of the house are her grace, charm, comfort level, knowledge, persistence, way of talking
confidently and familiarity with the household. She even threatens to get him arrested, which
convinces Horace Danby that she is genuine.

Question 10.
What did Horace Danby wonder about for a moment? What did he think and decide? [CBSE
2010]
Answer:
On seeing the poor painting in front of the safe, Horace Danby wondered for a moment whether
to collect pictures instead of books. But then, he thought that books were better in a small house
like his, as paintings took up too much room.

Question 11.
What did Horace do every year and why?
Answer:
As Horace was fond of rare, expensive books, he stole a safe every year, to have just enough
money to last twelve months for buying such books to his heart’s content.

Question 12.
Whom did Horace meet at Shotover Grange? How did the meeting affect his plans?
Answer:
Horace met a young, pretty woman dressed in red at Shotover Grange. She pretended to be the
owner’s wife and deceived him into breaking open the safe to remove the jewels for her. She
threatened even to call the police. This meeting adversely affected his plans, as he was not able
to get away with the jewels.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions

Question 1.
What precautions did Danby take to avoid arrest? What blunder did he commit in his last
venture? Why was Horace Danby arrested although he failed to profit from the robbery at
Shotover Grange?
Answer:
Horace Danby was arrested although he failed to profit from the robbery at Shotover Grange,
because he broke open the safe to give the lady in red the jewels, thinking her to be the wife of
the owner who had forgotten the number combination to open the safe. Actually he wanted to
escape scot-free, as he had been caught red-handed by the lady and wanted to keep her happy.
However, his fingerprints were all over the room, as he had forgotten to wear his gloves while
opening the safe. Thus he was arrested soon afterwards.

Question 2.
Horace was clever but the lady in red was cleverer. Do you agree with this statement? Justify
your answer.
Answer:
Yes, I agree with this statement. Horace was clever, as he planned the robbery carefully, studied
the target, took the proper tools and also took his gloves, to ensure leaving no fingerprints. But
the young lady in red had all the necessary information, and, posing as the mistress of the house,
exploited Horace’s fear on being discovered, tricked him into cracking open the safe and handing
her the jewels. She even ensured that Horace left his fingerprints at the site, as she distracted him
by picking up a cigarette which Horace offered to light after removing his gloves. Thus the lady
outwitted him.
Question3.
Would you do something wrong (i.e. commit a crime) if you thought that the ends justify the
means? Do you think that there are certain situations you can be excused for acting dishonestly?

Answer:
Yes, intentions do justify actions. If something wrong is done unintentionally, it may be
pardoned. However, it cannot be excused if it is carried out even when knowing it is wrong. As
Horace had the intention to rob the safe by breaking it open, his crime is intentional. Although he
had good intentions in helping the lady (who he thought was the mistress of the house), his crime
cannot be excused. Breaking open the safe cannot be justified at all. There may be certain
situations when you can be excused for acting dishonestly, but this is not so in Horace’s case.

Question 4.
Horace was a successful thief because he carefully planned his robberies. Should we call him a
successful thief and still appreciate his work? Why or why not?
Answer:
Yes, as a thief, Horace is successful because he carefully planned his robberies and completes
them well. He was living his life as a good and honest citizen. However, the wealth he gathered
due from his successful robberies did not belong to him. By stealing other people’s valuables, he
may have become successful but he is actually a criminal. He may be efficient in – conducting
his’-crimes so that he is successful, but we still cannot appreciate his work

END