The Hack Driver Important Questions Class 10 Footprints without Feet English
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’ mother?
Answer
The hack driver told the narrator that Lutkins’ mother was a real terror. She was nine feet tall, four feet thick and as quick as a cat.
Question 2. Why was he sent back to New Mullion? Who went with him?
Answer
The lawyer was sent back to New Mullion to serve summons on Lutkins. He had failed in his mission earlier. This time another man who had worked with Lutkins was also sent with him.
Question 3. Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
Answer
No, the narrator does not serve the summon that day.
Question 4. Who is Lutkins?
Answer
The hack driver, who called himself Bill, is Oliver Lutkins.
Question 5. How did Bill paint a picture of people in words?
Answer
The Bill, the hack driver was very talkative. He won his confidence. He drove him to various places telling that the villagers would help him in finding Lutkins.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkin’s mother?
Answer
He said that she was nine feet tall and four feet thick as a cat and could talk sharp. She was a real terror. Once, she almost took off his skin because he did not treat the box she had given to him to carry as delicately as a box of eggs.
Question 2. What job did the narrator get after graduation? Did he like his work?
Answer
After doing his graduation, the narrator got the job of a junior assistant clerk in a law firm. No, he did not like his work. He had to serve a summons on the wanted people. He had to visit many dirty places. He never liked his work.
Question 3. Why did the lawyer rejoice at his new assignment?
Answer
Working in the dirty and shadowy parts of the city was becoming more dangerous and difficult for the lawyer. He was overjoyed when his law firm sent him out forty miles out in the country to a town called New Mullion. He was to serve a summons on a man called Oliver Lutkins. They needed this man as a witness in a legal case. The idea of visiting a country town with cleaner surroundings was quite a welcome and romantic diversion for him.
Question 4. Why was he happy to go to New Mullion? Why did he go there?
Answer
The narrator did not like the dirty and dark sides of the city life. He thought that he would find some pleasant sights in New Mullion. So, he was happy to go there.He went there to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins.
Question 5. Why did the young lawyer wish to return to New Mullion?
Answer
Although the young lawyer failed to serve summons to Lutkins, he was so much impressed with the warmth and helpful nature of the country people that he felt excited. He planned to practice at New Mullion and leave his job.
Question 6. How did the hack driver sketch the character of Lutkins?
Answer
In fact, the hack driver was Lutkins himself. He sketched Lutkins as a very clever man who was good
at deceiving people. He never repaid the money he had taken from others. He had a passion for Poker.
Question 7. ‘But he was no more dishonest than I’. Elaborate the statement with reference to ‘The Hack Driver’.
Answer
The lawyer charged a handsome amount from his firm to visit new mullion. He was given some amount to expend in the process of searching Lutkins. But he paid very little money to the hack driver. Bill already knew that the lawyer was searching for him, still, he made him wander here and there, and even charged him two dollars an hour for six hours, including one hour of his lunchtime. This made the lawyer utter these words.
Question 8. The narrator and the hack driver drove around together to find Lutkins.
(i) Which were the places they visited?
(ii) Why couldn’t they find Lutkins?
Answer
(i) The hack driver took the narrator to almost all the places where Lutkins could be found. They visited Fritz’s shop, GustafFs shop, Gray’s stop, the pool room and Lutkins mother’s farmhouse.
(ii) They could not find Lutkins because the Hack driver was Lutkins himself.
Question 9. Why do you think Bill offered to help the narrator find Lutkins?
Answer
Bill himself was Lutkins. He knew that the lawyer is searching for him. He wanted to play a prank on him and offered to help him find Lutkins. Even he made some money in this process and made him wander here and there. He and his mother made a fool of the narrator and had great laughter.
Question 10. How did Lutkins’ mother receive the narrator?
Answer
Lutkins’ mother was not ready to tell them anything about Lutkins’. She tried to avoid their enquiry. When she ceune to know about the purposes of the narrator, she got furious. She went to the kitchen and came out with an iron rod. She marched towards them with a threat. They had to retreat from there.
Question 11. Why did the narrator feel that Bill had already made it his own task to find Oliver Lutkins for him?
Answer
The narrator found Bill very open and friendly. He glowed with the warmth of his affection. Bill wanted the business but his kindness was real. He offered his carriage for two dollars an hour. The narrator was happy to pay to such a good fellow. Bill assured the narrator that he knew about all the places where Lutkins usually could be found out. The narrator began to feel that Bill had made it his own task to find Oliver Lutkins for him.
Question 12. How did the people at the law firm receive him?
Answer
The narrator could not find Lutkins. He could not serve the Summons on him so everyone at the firm was angry with him. They scolded and disgraced him. His chief considered him as a useless fool. He was asked to go back to serve the summons on Lutkins.
Question 13. What information did the narrator get after visiting Gustaf? Gray’s barbershops and other places in New Mullion?
Answer
They drove to Gustaf’s barbershop. Again Bill entered first. The lawyer remained at the door. Gustaff replied angrily that he hadn’t seen him. If they found him, they could collect the money he owed him. Then, Bill took him to Gray’s shop. Perhaps, Lutkins had gone there for a shave. They were told that they missed Lutkins by only five minutes. They got the same answer at the pool room and elsewhere in the town.
Question 14. How did the hack driver come to know why the lawyer was hunting for Lutkins?
Answer
The hack driver told the lawyer that if he tried to collect money from him in those fancy clothes, he would be suspicious and run away. The lawyer took him into his confidence and told him that he wanted to serve the summons on Lutkins.
Question 15. How did the lawyer find the streets and shops of New Mullion?
Answer
The lawyer found the streets of New Mullion muddy. With rows of wooden shops, either painted in sour brown or not painted at all. He was disappointed because he expected to see a sweet and simple country village.
Question 16. Describe the narrator’s encounter with Lutkins’ terrible mother. Why was he asked to move out immediately by Bill?
Answer
Bill drove the narrator into a poor farmyard. There they were faced by a huge and cheerful old woman. Bill bravely went up to her and asked about her son, Oliver Lutkins. She shouted that she didn’t know anything about him. Bill told her that they had a legal right to search the house. This made her famous. She went inside and came out with an iron rod from the hearth. She threatened to burn them alive if they dared to do such a thing. Bill asked the narrator to go out at once before she could murder them.
Question 17. Did Lutkin’s mother allow the lawyer to search her house to find Lutkins?
Answer
The hack driver told Lutkins’ mother that the lawyer represented the court in the city and he had a legal right to search the home. She treated them quite disrespectfully but allowed to search the house. But they could not find Lutkin’s there.
Question 18. Describe the feelings of the young lawyer when he came to know the reality of the hack driver at last.
Answer
As long as the lawyer did not know that the hack driver was Lutkins himself, he enjoyed the hack driver’s company and glowed in the warmth of his affection. But as the identity of the hack driver was revealed, the lawyer felt very quite hurt. This was especially when Lutkins and his mother laughed at the lawyer as though the rye was a boy when he served the summons. Later, however, he acknowledged their loving kindness too.
Question 19. What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Answer
Bill told the lawyer that he knew Lutkin’s mother. He said that she was a terror. He narrated an incident when he took a trunk to her once and she almost took his skin off because he did not treat it like a box of eggs. He also said that she was very tall and fat. She was very quick and could talk a lot. He said that Oliver must have heard that somebody was chasing him and consequently, would have gone into hiding at his mother’s place.
Question 20. How did the narrator’s boss react to his failure in tracing Oliver Lutkins?
Answer
The narrator couldn’t trace Oliver Lutkins in New Mullion. The people in the company were upset. The case was coming up in court. The narrator felt himself a ‘shameful, useless fool.’ He felt his promising legal career coming to an end before it had begun. The chief almost ‘murdered’ him. He hinted that he might do well at digging trenches. He was ordered back to New Mullion with a man who had worked with Oliver Lutkins.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Bill or Oliver Lutkins was a complete contrast to the narrator. How did a seasoned crook like Lutkins outwit the gullible lawyer proving him a novice and just a bright boy of seven?
Answer
Certainly, both the main characters of the story are totally different. Bill or Lutkins maneuvers and plots under the garb of friendliness. The narrator is outwitted and deceived due to his gullibility. Bill (Lutkins) knows how to confuse and misdirect the narrator’s search for Oliver Lutkins. He befriends the lawyer convincing him that he is the only person in New Mullion who can help him in finding out Oliver Lutkins. He overpowers the narrator’s capacity for reasoning and thinking. The narrator becomes a soft target of cunning Lutkins.
He allows giving Lutkins all the space and time that he needed to plan out and scheme things. The narrator became just a willing puppet in Bill’s hands. Actually, he danced to his tunes. Bill’s pretensions clouded the narrator’s wisdom and sense of discretion. Bill (Lutkins) was not a crook and fraud but an honest man full of human values for him. The cunning Lutkins had the last laugh. When the narrator served summons, Lutkins and his mother laughed as if he were a seven-year-old boy.
Question 2. Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for a ride?
Answer
The lawyer seems to be a simpleton and inexperienced person. He has yet to come to terms with the way the people in this world function. Being a lawyer, he could have easily avoided being duped by a stranger. Before visiting that village, he could have gathered important information regarding Lutkins. He could have taken a photograph of Lutkins along with him, most importantly, he should not have discussed his purpose of his visit with a total stranger, as it was a matter that involved law and security.
Question 3. In life, people who easily trust others are sometimes made to look foolish. One should not be too trusting. Describe how Oliver Lutkins made a fool of the young lawyer.
Answer
Appearances are not always true. At times a person on first meeting appears to be friendly, co-operative, understanding but as the time unfolds a different story is revealed. When the lawyer comes to the city for first time he is very happy to meet the hack driver. In fact the hack driver himself is Oliver Lutkins.
The hack driver seemed to be a simple country man ready to help. The hack driver showed affectionate behaviour. He left a favourable impression on the narrator’s mind. But very soon lawyer was able to realize that hack driver himself was Oliver Lutkins. It te so foolish to find that a wise person like a lawyer is befooled by a simple country man.
Question 4. Describe the young lawyer’s first encounter with the hack driver.
Answer
The narrator was a junior assistant clerk in a law firm in the city. Once he was sent to New Mullion to serve summons to a person named Oliver Lutkins. He reached New Mullion by train. At the station, he met a hack driver. He seemed to be helpful and friendly. The narrator told him that he wanted to see Lutkins very urgently. The hack driver was Lutkins himself. He told the narrator that he knew all the places very well where Lutkins could be found. The narrator hired him at the rate of two dollars per hour.
The hack driver drove the narrator for six hours in New Mullion in search of Lutkins. He kept the narrator behind him. He was so cunning that he tutored the people about his plan. Everybody said that Lutkins was there a little while ago and had just gone away. The narrator had to return back to the city without finding Lutkins.
Question 5. Which were the places the narrator and the hack driver visited to search for Lutkins? How did they miss him narrowly everywhere?
Answer
The narrator was a young lawyer and”was sent to New Mullion to serve a summon on Lutkins. The narrator did not recognise him. He met Bill, the hack driver at the station, who promised him to help in finding Lutkins. The hack driver first of all took him to Fritz. They learnt from him that he had gone to Gustaff s barber shop to have a shave. Reaching there, they learnt that Oliver had left for Gray’s barber shop. They missed him just by five minutes. The hack drove him to the poolroom. They missed him there too. After lunch the hack driver took the narrator to the farm of Lutkin’s mother. Lutkins could not be found there too. Thus, they missed him narrowly everywhere.
Question 6. Give a brief character sketch of Oliver Lutkins.
Answer
Oliver Lutkins was a jolly natured and fun loving person. He had a pleasant appearance. He impressed the lawyer at the railway station by his friendliness and simplicity. But he was not so simple and honest as he appeared to be. He knew about the lawyer’s ignorance and his purpose. He decided to be fool him. He introduced himself as Bill. He had a lot of fun out of his ignorance.
But Oliver had no other intention to befool the narrator besides having simple fun and enjoyment. He had a good understanding with the town folks who helped him in his plan. He loved poker. Lutkins never harmed anybody. He was very kind and well mannered too. He was a talented actor who made fun of an intelligent lawyer. He was very clever and sinart to plan at the moment and include everyone in his plan right before the narrator’s eyes.
Question 7. What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’ mother?
Answer
The hack driver told the narrator that Lutkins’ mother was a terror. He told him that she was about nine feet tall and four feet thick. He told him that once he had taken a trunk for her at her farmhouse. She almost had taken his skin off because he had not treated the trunk like a box of eggs. He said to him that she was as quick as a cat. If she had heard from anywhere that someone had been looking for her son, she would have been more dangerous. He made the narrator more frightened to tell that facing such a dangerous lady would be very risky.
Question 8. Intelligence or cleverness cannot be identified only on the basis of our work or profession but it comes from our inside. Explain it with reference to the chapter, ‘The Hack Driver’.
Answer
Yes, it is quite right that intelligence and cleverness come automatically from our inside because it is our birth quality, it cannot be created, that’s why our intelligence or cleverness cannot be identified only on the basis of our work or profession. Many times in our daily life, we can find such examples. For example, a policeman is always considered brave and fighter because he has to face many difficulties daily and if he is not like that, he cannot defeat criminals, dacoits, burglars and cheaters. But sometimes we find some policemen opposite to it.
Some policemen nm away from the place where the people need them very much. Such policemen never think about their duty. They think only to save their lives. Such examples can easily be found in many different fields like medical, political. Some doctors don’t fulfill expectation of the common people, they think only for their families. So it is clear that our work or profession cannot disclose our internal quality like intelligence or cleverness. As we find in this story, the lawyer is not so clever or intelligent but the hackman is very cunning.
Question 9. Why do you think the lawyer was happy to take summons to New Mullion? How did the lawyer develop a perception of Lutkinns? If you would have been in the lawyer’s place, what would have been your reaction towards Bill’s statements?
Answer
The narrator was happy to go to New Mullion. He thought it must be a beautiful and calm village. He considered Lutkins a friendly fellow. He liked his openness, warmth and affection. He took his kindness to be real. He was impressed by his ever of help although the hack driver was doing his business and earning handsome money from the lawyer.
If I had been in the lawyer’s place I never considered Bill’s statement true. I would have counter checked his statement by talking to other persons of the village. I would not have spent the whole day with a single person in search of Lutkins, but rather consulted different people to find Lutkins.