A Question of Trust — Class 10 English
Footprints Without Feet · Chapter 4
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Chapter summary
The story in steps
- Horace Danby is a careful burglar who steals once a year to buy rare books.
- He plans to rob Shotover Grange, studies the house, and enters when the family is away.
- A young woman appears, claims to be the owner, and orders him to open the safe for jewels.
- Horace trusts her story, removes his gloves, and opens the safe with his skill.
- The woman takes the jewels and leaves, while Horace believes he has escaped trouble.
- Later the police arrest Horace because his fingerprints are on the safe and the woman was a thief.
Key ideas & terms
- Horace Danby
- A respectable man who robs one house a year to buy rare books.
- The young woman
- A thief who tricks Horace into opening the safe.
- Trust
- Horace’s misplaced faith that leads to his downfall.
- Irony
- A thief is robbed and blamed through his own trust.
- Fingerprints
- The evidence that gets the trusting Horace caught.
- Rare books
- Horace’s costly hobby that drives him to steal.
शब्दार्थ · Word meanings
- rare
- uncommon and valuable
- burglar
- person who steals from houses
- respectable
- thought well of by others
- dishonest
- not truthful or fair
- grange
- country house with farm land
- passage
- long narrow way inside
- burglar alarm
- device warning of theft
- rhubarb
- a plant used in cooking
- ornament
- decorative object
- fingerprints
- marks made by fingers
Extra questions & answers
Why did Horace Danby rob a safe every year?
He robbed one safe each year to get money to buy the rare and expensive books he loved to collect.
How did the young woman trick Horace?
Pretending to be the lady of the house, she asked him to open the safe and hand over the jewels, promising not to call the police.
Why was Horace caught for the robbery?
He had removed his gloves to open the safe, leaving his fingerprints, so the police believed he was the thief.
What is ironic about the story?
Horace, a clever thief, is himself robbed and blamed because he trusted a stranger who was a cleverer thief.
What kind of man was Horace Danby, apart from his yearly theft?
He was about fifty, a maker of locks, outwardly respectable and law-abiding, with a deep passion for collecting rare and expensive books.
How had Horace prepared for the robbery at the country house?
He had studied the house carefully for two weeks and disabled the burglar alarm before breaking in to open the safe.
How did the young woman gain Horace’s trust?
She calmly claimed to be the lady of the house and promised not to call the police if he simply opened the safe and handed her the jewels.
Why did Horace agree to open the safe?
He believed her story and feared being reported, so he took off his gloves, opened the safe and gave her the jewels.
How did Horace come to be blamed for the theft?
His fingerprints, left when he removed his gloves, were all over the safe, so the police were sure he was the thief.
What lesson does the story teach?
That misplaced trust can lead to one’s downfall, and even a clever wrongdoer can be cheated and outwitted by another.
READ AND FIND OUT
• What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Horace Danby likes to collect rare and expensive books.
• Why does he steal every year?
He steals from a safe every year to obtain enough money to buy the rare and expensive books he loves.
READ AND FIND OUT
• Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
A young woman dressed in red is speaking to Horace. She pretends to be the lady of the house, but she is actually another thief.
• Who is the real culprit in the story?
The clever young woman is the real culprit in the jewel robbery. She deceives Horace into opening the safe and giving the jewels to her.
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?
Yes. I began to suspect her when she said that she had forgotten the numbers needed to open her own safe and readily allowed Horace to break it. Her calm behaviour towards a burglar and her eagerness to obtain the jewels also seemed unusual. These details suggested that she might not be the owner of the house.
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?
The lady behaves confidently, speaks to the dog by name, straightens the ornaments and talks as though the house and jewels belong to her. She claims that she has returned unexpectedly and threatens to call the police, which strengthens her appearance of authority. Horace does not suspect her because she seems completely at ease in the house, knows the dog’s name and cleverly takes control of the conversation. His fear of arrest and his hope that she will let him escape also prevent him from thinking carefully.
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?
The description is apt because Horace appears to be a respectable and successful citizen in ordinary life, but he secretly commits a robbery every year. He is not a typical thief because he does not steal constantly, use violence or live among criminals. He carefully targets wealthy people and steals only enough to support his passion for rare books. Nevertheless, his motive does not make his crimes honest or acceptable.
4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Horace carefully studied the house, its servants, rooms, wiring and safe, but he failed when the young woman appeared. He accepted her claim without verifying her identity, removed his gloves and opened the safe for her. His fingerprints were therefore left in the room. He went wrong because fear, overconfidence and his eagerness to avoid prison weakened his judgement.
Talk about it
1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Horace deserved punishment because he deliberately entered the house to steal and had committed similar robberies before. Although he was tricked into handing the jewels to another thief, he was still responsible for breaking into the house and opening the safe. However, it was unfortunate that the clever woman escaped while he alone was blamed for taking the jewels.
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?
Good intentions do not automatically justify wrong actions. Horace’s love of books cannot excuse theft because his actions harm other people and violate the law. I would not knowingly do something dishonest merely to obtain a desired result. In rare emergencies, a person might hide part of the truth to protect someone from immediate and serious harm, but such situations require careful moral judgement and should not be used as an excuse for personal gain.