The Midnight Visitor.”
“The Midnight Visitor.”
Read and Find Out (Page 1)
1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
Ans. Ausable is different from the typical secret agent Fowler had read about in several ways:
* Appearance: He is “fat. Very fat” and described as a “sloppy fat man”, unlike the slim, athletic agents in fiction.
* Setting: He lives in a “small room, on the sixth and top floor” of a “gloomy French hotel”, which is not a “setting for a romantic adventure.”
* Manner: He speaks with a noticeable American accent that he brought from Boston twenty years ago, even though he speaks French and German passably.
* Methods: Instead of getting secret messages from “dark-eyed beauties,” he gets “only a prosaic telephone call making an appointment in his room.”
2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day?
Ans. Fowler is a “writer, young and romantic,” who was disappointed after meeting Ausable because the secret agent didn’t fit the “description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.”
His first authentic thrill of the day happens when Ausable switches on the light in his room. Fowler sees “halfway across the room, a small automatic pistol in his hand, stood a man.”
Read and Find Out (Page 2)
1. How has Max got in?
Ans. Max got into Ausable’s room by using a “passkey.”
2. How does Ausable say he got in?
Ans. Ausable pretends to be angry with the hotel management and says that Max got in through the “nuisance of a balcony.” He claims it is the “second time in a month” that someone has entered his room that way.
Think about it (Page 5)
1. “Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion?
Ans. Based on the story, the secret agents Fowler read about were not “sloppy fat” men like Ausable. Instead, they were likely involved in “romantic adventure[s]” and associated with “mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, [and] drugs in the wine.” These fictional agents are typically portrayed as sleek, quick-witted, and living a life of glamour and danger, unlike Ausable, who has a “dull evening in a French music hall.”
2. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room? What makes it a convincing story?
Ans. Ausable makes the story convincing by adding many specific, believable details and acting irritated about it.
* He complains: He “grimly” states, “I’m going to raise the devil with the management this time.”
* He gives a history: He mentions it’s the “second time in a month” this has happened.
* He adds specific details: He explains it’s “not my balcony” but belongs to the “next apartment.” He describes how the room “used to be part of a large unit” and the balcony “extends under my window now.”
* He provides a backstory: He says someone entered from an “empty room two doors down” last month, and the “management promised to block it off. But they haven’t.”
This detailed, irritation-filled complaint makes the balcony sound like a real and annoying problem, which convinces Max.
3. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of Max? … Or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?
Ans. Ausable made up his plan by “taking advantage of events as they happened.” He did not have a “plan in detail right from the beginning” because he was surprised to find Max in his room.
He instantly invented the story about the balcony the moment he saw Max. Later, when the waiter knocked on the door, Ausable took advantage of that “sudden knocking” to invent the second part of his plan: convincing Max it was the police coming to check on him for “extra protection.”
Talk about it (Page 5-6)
1. In this story, Ausable shows great ‘presence of mind’… Give examples from your own experience, or narrate a story, which shows someone’s presence of mind.
The text defines “presence of mind” as “the ability to think quickly, and act calmly and wisely, in a situation of danger and surprise.”
Ans. This question asks you to share a personal story. An example of presence of mind would be if someone saw a pot in their kitchen catch fire and, instead of panicking, calmly turned off the stove and covered the pot with a lid to smother the flames, rather than dangerously throwing water on a grease fire.
2. Discuss what you would do in the situations described below.
This exercise asks you to think about how to react in emergencies, as “mental preparedness” helps you deal with “possible problems or dangers.”
Ans. A small fire starts in your kitchen: Turn off the heat source. If it’s a grease fire, cover it with a metal lid or use a fire extinguisher (Class B). Never use water.
* A child starts to choke on a piece of food: Perform the Heimlich maneuver (abdominal thrusts) or, for a small child, back blows. Call for medical help.
* An electrical appliance starts to hiss and gives out sparks: Do not touch the appliance. Go to your home’s main fuse box or circuit breaker and cut the power to that area. Unplug the appliance only after the power is off.
* A bicycle knocks down a pedestrian: Check on the pedestrian. Call for an ambulance if they are injured. Do not move them if they suspect a head, neck, or back injury.
* It rains continuously for more than twenty-four hours: Listen to local news for flood alerts. Be prepared to evacuate if necessary. Move important belongings to a higher floor.
* A member of your family does not return home at the usual or expected time: Try calling their phone. Call friends, colleagues, or classmates they might be with. If you cannot reach them after a reasonable amount of time, contact the local police.
Glossary (Vocabulary from Page 5)
This section provides the meanings for specific words used in the chapter:
* romantic: imaginative; having a fantastic view of reality
* passably: just well enough; tolerably well
* espionage: spying
* sloppy: (here) carelessly dressed
* prosaic: ordinary
* chuckled: laughed quietly, without opening his mouth
* wheezed: spoke breathing noisily and heavily
* missiles: weapons directed by remote control or automatically
* shrilly: piercingly; in a high pitch
*