NCERT Solutions Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 4 (A Question of Trust)

Read and Find Out

1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Answer – Horace Danby likes to collect rare and expensive books.

2. Why does he steal every year?
Answer – He stole every year so that he could buy the rare and expensive books that he loved to collect. Each year he planned carefully so as to steal enough to last twelve months.

Read and Find Out

1. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Answer – A lady standing in the doorway is 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. Thus she pretended to be one of the members of the family living at Shotover Grange.

2. Who is the real culprit in the story?
Answer – The real culprit in the story is the woman who pretended to be a member of the family living at Shotover Grange. She tricked Horace Danby into believing her, and cleverly took away all the jewels that were kept in the safe.

Think About It

1. 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?
Answer – Well, in the beginning the lady appeared on the scene. I did not suspect her. But when she said “I have always liked the wrong kind of people”, I suspected her. Then she said that if Horace did ‘something’ for her, she would let him go.

2. 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?
Answer – Her 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 anybody. Horace was too frightened to think properly, so he didn’t suspect anything.

3. “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 – This description fits well on Horace Danby. Horace enjoys a good reputation as ‘a good, honest citizen’. Then he steals only once a year. He covers his stealing under his profession of making locks. He also loves reading books. So due to these reasons he can’t be categorised as a typical thief.

4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Answer – He was rightly a meticulous planner. He planned carefully each year just before stealing. But he faltered. He didn’t see into the lady’s sweet, clever and crafty talks. It may be because he had been in the house as a thief. And he had been apprehended red-handed. His ” fear of prison blunted his mind to see through the lady’s tricks. Then he was a thief.

Talk About It

1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Answer – 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.

2. 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?
Answer – “Ends do not justify means”, is a very old and time-tested saying. For their own benefit nobody should harm others. But this world doesn’t function on idealism. There are many examples of people tricking people for quick gains. These acts should be deplored and dealt with severely.