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Subject: English Class: X Chapter: A Question of Trust: To Be Written in NB)
Subject: English Class: X Chapter: A Question of Trust: To Be Written in NB)
CLASS: X
“Horace Danby was clever but the young woman was cleverer”. Discuss.
OR
How did the lady in red turn out to be smarter than Horace Danby? (To be written in NB)
Answer:
Horace Danby was a cleaver thief. He lived a life of a respectable and successful
businessman. He used to make locks. He was fond of rare and expensive books. He did not
have enough money to buy these books. He used to rob a safe for this once in an year. He was
very clever. He made his plan in such a way that he was never caught. He spent a lot of time
in planning his mission. He never left any sign of theft but the lady who was another thief
proved herself cleverer than Danby. She was a great actress as well.
She pretended to be the owner of the house. She tricked Danby who opened the safe for her
and ‘handed over the jewels. Horace was so nervous that he did not realise that he had no
gloves in his hand. The lady had no tools, no gloves but managed to rob the safe without
leaving any evidence against her. Thus, we can say that the lady was cleverer than Danby.
Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and
why?
Answer: (To be written in NB)
Horace Danby had collected all the information about the owner and servants and studied the
house carefully. He always planned his work well and was always alert. When the lady in red
came and announced that she was the owner of the house, her appearance was such that he
was fooled. When she took a cigarette from a silver book, Horace took off his gloves and
held his lighter towards her. When opening the safe to get her jewels, he forgot to put on the
gloves and so, his fingerprints were found on the safe and he was arrested two days later. The
owner of the house was an aged lady of sixty and he had been fooled by that young lady.
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.