A Question of Trust | NCERT Class 10 English Footprint without Feet
Summary – A Question of Trust
Horace Danby had a good reputation in the society. He was about fifty and unmarried. He made locks and had two helpers. He loved rare and expensive books. Horace robbed a safe every year. He was now out on committing a robbery.
For two weeks Horace had studied the house of Shotover Grange. He had to burgle this house. Horace Danby entered the house . Horace had allergy from flower ; he started sneezeing. Then he heard a voice. The voice told him that he could cure the sneeze. It was the voice of a woman. She stood in the doorway. She was young and pretty. His first thought was to run. The lady told him that she would telephone the police. She would tell them about him. Horace Danby told him to let him go and forget she ever saw him. The lady put one condition for letting Horace go.
She told him that she had promised her husband to take her jewel to the bank. She had, however, left jewels in the safe. She told him that she wanted to wear the jewels in a party that night. She came down to get them. But she had forgotten the numbers to open the safe. So she needed his help and Horace opened the safe for her.
After two days a policeman had arrested him for the jewel robbery at Shotover Grange . Danby’s fingerprint were found all over the room. He had opened the safe without gloves. He said to the police that the landlady of the house said him to open the safe. But the lady was 60 years old woman. She said Danby’s story is a nonsense.
Horace is now in prison. He often thinks of the charming and clever young lady. She was in the same profession. She had simply tricked him. Danby gets angry when anyone talks about “honour among thieves”.
Extra Question Answer – A Question of Trust
Q.1 What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Answer. Horace Danby liked to collect rare, expensive books.
Q.2 Why does he steal every year?
Answer. Horace Danby stole every year to buy rare, expensive books. Each year he planned carefully just what he would do, stole enough to last for twelve months, and secretly bought the books he loved to collect through an agent.
Q.3 Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Answer. A woman is speaking to Horace Danby. She was young, quite pretty, and was dressed in red.
Q.4 Who is the real culprit in the story?
Answer. The woman is the real culprit in the story. She managed to convince Horace that she was the lady of the house whose husband was away for a month and got him to break open the safe and give her the jewels. Not only did she escape with the jewels but because his fingerprints were all over the safe and the room he was arrested by the police.
Q.6. 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 act of touching up her make-up and the ease with which she picks cigarette from the right place are enough to deceive anybody. Horace was too frightened to think properly so he didn’t suspect anything.
Q.7 “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. Danby’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. Act of theft is still a crime no matter how good a thief behaves, so Danby can’t be termed as completely honest. He is not a regular offender like other thieves so he can’t be categorized as a typical thief.
Q.8 Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Answer. Horace Danby failed to get enough information about real occupants of the house. He seems to be too occupied with collecting information about house map, wiring and location of valuable things. Although he was smart enough to know the dog’s actual name but overlooked getting identity of each and every occupants of the house. Once he was in problem then probably his clever mind gave way to carelessness leading him to open the safe without wearing gloves.
Q.9 Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Answer. He deserved what he got. A crime is a crime no matter if it is committed a hundred times or just once.