Key Points of the Story
- Fowler, a writer, meets Ausable, a secret agent, expecting excitement and adventure.
- Ausable is overweight, speaks with an American accent, and seems unimpressive.
- Ausable tells Fowler about an important document that several people have risked their lives for.
- They enter Ausable's room and find a man, Max, holding a gun, demanding the document.
- Ausable mentions a balcony used to access his room, frustrating Max.
- Ausable suggests the police are knocking on the door, making Max nervous.
- Max decides to hide on the balcony, but there is no balcony, and he falls to his death.
- The knocking is revealed to be a waiter bringing drinks Ausable had ordered.
- Ausable calmly explains to Fowler that there was no balcony.
Summary
Ausable was a secret agent. He was staying in a French hotel. A young and romantic writer
named Fowler came to meet him. Fowler was disappointed to see Ausable.
He was a sloppy fat fellow. His room was at the top and sixth floor of
that musty and gloomy hotel. When they both entered the room and Ausable
switched on they found that a man was standing in the center of the
room. He hand a pistol in his hand. It was the first thrill of the day
for Fowler.
The name of the man with a gun was Max.
He
said that he had come there to snatch the report from Ausable which he
was expecting to receive. Ausable remained silent and cool. He seemed to
be angry with the management of the hotel. He cocked-up a story about
the balcony. He
told him that there was a balcony just below the window of his room and
last month an unknown person had entered the room through that balcony.
Max
told Ausable that he had used a master key to enter the door. He wished
that he should have entered through the balcony way. It would have been
much easier. There was still half an hour for the report to arrive.
There
was a sudden knocking at the door. Ausable smiled. He said it must be
the police because he himself had called them for the protection of such
an important report.
Max
was nervous. He jumped through the window to the balcony. But there was
no balcony as Ausable had told. He fell down to the ground from the
sixth floor and was killed.
Then
the door opened. The waiter entered the room with a tray a bottle of
wine and two glasses. Ausable had ordered for them. The waiter left.
Fowler did not know anything about the balcony. He feared that Max would
return soon. But Ausable told him the fact that he would never return.
Thus, Fowler was much impressed by his cleverness and presence of mind.
Theme/ Message
Theme
Appearance vs. Reality:
- Ausable defies the typical image of a secret agent, showing that appearances can be deceptive.
- The absence of the balcony is a twist, highlighting the gap between appearance and reality.
Wit and Intelligence Over Physical Strength:
- Ausable uses his intelligence and quick thinking to outsmart Max, demonstrating that wit can triumph over physical threats.
Message
- Do Not Judge by Appearances: The story conveys that initial impressions can be misleading, and true capability may not always be visible on the surface.
- Value of Cleverness: The narrative emphasizes the importance of quick thinking and intelligence in overcoming challenges.
Difficult Words
- Musty: Having a stale, moldy smell.
- Gloomy: Dark or poorly lit, especially so as to appear depressing or frightening.
- Passably: In an adequate or satisfactory manner.
- Espionage: The practice of spying or using spies.
- Prosaic: Having the style or diction of prose; lacking poetic beauty.
- Disillusioned: Disappointed in someone or something that one discovers to be less good than one had believed.
- Authentic: Of undisputed origin; genuine.
- Wheezed: Breathed with a whistling or rattling sound in the chest.
- Crafty: Clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods.
- Explanatorily: Serving to explain something.
- Commanding: Having a position of authority.
- Inflection: A change in the pitch or tone of a person's voice.
- Moodily: Given to unpredictable changes of mood, especially sudden bouts of gloominess or sullenness.
- Menacing: Suggesting the presence of danger; threatening.
- Prosaic: Lacking imaginativeness or originality.
