CHAPTER-1

A triumph of surgery
1. The Doctor Worried: The doctor, James Herriot, is really worried.
Tricki had become very fat. He looks like a bloated sausage. His eyes
are red and rheumy. Mrs Pumphrey is the mistress of the dog. She
has given him malt and cod-liver oil and a bowl of Horlicks every night.
But nothing works.
2. James Herriot Advises Mrs Pumphrey: James Herriot realises
that Tricki’s only fault was greed for food. Dr James Herriot advises
Mrs Pumphrey that she must cut Tricki’s food right down. She must
give the dog some exercise. She must keep him on a very strict diet.
Otherwise, he will fall ill.

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3. Tricki Falls Ill: Within a few days, Dr Herriot receives a call from
Mrs Pumphrey. She tells him that Tricki doesn’t eat and has bouts of
vomiting. He only lies down on the rug panting. The doctor advises her
that Tricki needs to be hospitalized for a fortnight. He is to be kept
under observation.
4. Tricki at Hospital: At the Surgery, the household dogs surge
around Tricki. He sees them lying motionless. A bed for Tricki is made
in a warm loose box. For two days, no food is given to him but plenty
of water. On the second day, he starts taking some interest in his
surroundings. On the third day, he begins to whimper when he hears
the dog in the yard. Tricki starts taking a walk around the bowls licking
casually inside one or two of them. 3
5. Rapid Progress: Tricki’s progress is rapid. He has no
medical treatment of any kind. He runs about the dogs joining
their friend-ly barkings. He starts fighting for his share of food
and hunts rats at night. Dr Herriot tells Mrs Pumphrey that Tricki
is not in danger and recovering rapidly. Mrs Pumphrey starts
bringing eggs, two dozen at a time to build up his strength. Wine
and brandy are given to improve Tricki’s constitution. The doctor
informs that Tricki has recovered and Mrs Pumphrey can collect
him.

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6. Grateful Mrs Pumphrey: Within two weeks, Tricki has been
transformed into a flexible, hard-muscled animal. He is
stretching out in great bounds. When Tricki sees his mistress, he
leaps and sails into her lap. As the car moves away, Mrs
Pumphrey leans out of the window. Her lips tremble and tears
shine in her eyes. She says, “Oh, Mr Herriot, how can I ever
thank you? This is a triumph of surgery!”

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 CHAPTER-2
The Thief’s Story
1. Meeting with Anil: The narrator of The Thief’s Story’ is a
thief. He was just 15 years old when he met Anil, a writer of
about 25 years. Anil was a tall, lean and thin fellow. He
looked easy going, kind and simple enough for the purpose
of a thief like a narrator. The thief hadn’t much luck of late.
He wanted to win Anil’s confidence. The narrator took a
new name every month. He did so to avoid arrest from the
police and his former employees. Recently, he introduced
himself as Hari Singh.

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2. Wanted to Work for Anil: The narrator wanted to work for
Anil. But Anil was not a rich man. He couldn’t pay him. The
narrator thought for a moment that he has misjudged his target.
Anil asked Hari Singh, the thief if he could cook. Hari Singh lied
that he could. The food he cooked on that day, was just
terrible. Anil had to give it to a stray dog. Anil asked him to go
away but the narrator didn’t budge from there. At last, Anil
agreed to teach him cooking. Anil also taught Hari sigh, the
thief, to write his name and to write whole sentences and to
add numbers.

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3. Hari Singh Grateful for Getting Education: Hari Singh wanted to be
educated. He was grateful that, at least, Anil had given him the basic education.
He knew that once he could write like an educated man, there would be no limit to
what he could achieve. Hari Singh found it quite pleasant to work with Anil? He
made tea in the morning. He made a profit of one rupee from buying the day’s
supplies. Anil knew everything about Hari Singh’s stealings but didn’t seem to
mind them.
4. No Regular Income of Anil: Anil had no regular income. He made money by
fits and starts. He seemed to write for magazines. The day he got the money he
would go out and celebrate. Then, he would wait and worry about his next cheque.
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5. Anil Robbed of his Money: One evening, Anil came home with a small bundle of
notes. He had just sold a book to a publisher. At night, Hari Singh saw him tuck the
money under the mattress. Anil had given him a key to the door and he could come and
go as he pleased. Anil was the most trusting person he had ever met. It was very difficult
to rob him. Sometimes, he didn’t notice that he had been robbed. It took all the pleasure
out of Hari Singh’s work. Once, Anil was asleep. Hari Singh thought over the situation. If
he stole the money, he could catch the 10:30 Express to Lucknow. He crept up to the bed
and slid his hand under the mattress. He found the notes and drew them out. Anil sighed
in his sleep. He turned his side towards Hari Singh. The thief (Hari Singh) was startled
and quickly came out of the room. On the road, he counted them. They were 600 rupees
in fifties. With that money, he could live like a rich Arab for a week or two.
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6. Hari Singh’s Dilemma: The narrator (the thief) reached the station and dashed
straight to the platform. The Lucknow Express was Just moving. He could jump in
but hesitate. When the train had gone, he had no idea where to spend the night.
He had no friends and didn’t want to stay at one of the hotels. The only person he
knew was Anil whom he had robbed. He came to the `maidan’ and sat on a bench.
The night was chilly and it had a light drizzle. The notes were damp from the rain.

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7. Hari Singh back to Anil with his Money: Hari Singh remembered that he had
forgotten about his education in the excitement of the theft. He knew that
education could one day bring him more than a few hundred rupees. To be a really
big man, a clever and respected man, he was to learn reading and writing. He was
to be educated. He hurried back to Anil’s room very nervous. He crept to the head
of the bed. He held the notes in one hand and slipped them quietly under the
mattress. Next morning, Anil stretched out his hand towards the narrator. There
was a fifty rupee note between his fingers. Hari Singh’s heart sank. He thought
that he had been discovered. Anil made an announcement. He told Hari Singh that
he made some money and Hari would be paid regularly. He also told that he would
teach Hari Singh how to write sentences. Anil knew everything about the theft. But
neither his lips nor his eyes showed anything.

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 CHAPTER-3
The midnight visitor
✓ Fowler was a young and romantic writer.
✓ He wanted to meet Ausable because he wanted to write a book on detectives.
✓ Ausable was a detective in Paris who was fat and sloppy and hardly looked like a
secret agent.
✓ When Ausable switched on the light, he found Max standing with a pistol in his
hand in the room.
✓ Max had come to take a particularly important report concerning missiles forcibly
from Ausable.
✓ Ausable cooked up a false story to entrap crafty Max.
✓ He told Max that the balcony below his window had become a big nuisance..
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15
✓ It was the second time in a month that somebody got into his room through
the balcony.
✓ He also made Max panicky by telling him that the knockings at the door
were of the police, whom he had already informed.
✓ When Max become panicky, he came to the window and jumped out of it.
✓ A loud cry was heard and in this way, Ausable got rid of his crafty enemy.
✓ Later on, it was found that the knockings at the door were made by the
waiter, who entered the room with a bottle and two glasses as ordered by
Ausable.

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17
TENSES

✓ 1.Ausable: He is a different kind of secret agent. Generally, secret agents

that are described in detective books and shown in films, are very smart
and gun-friendly. Wine and dark-eyed beauties are associated with them.
However, Ausable doesn’t present such a romantic picture. He is very fat
and sloppy. Physically, he may be fat but mentally he is very agile and
quick-witted. He knows all the tricks of his trade. He is very quick to react
and can cook up stories that may fit in all kinds of situations. He convinces
even the crafty Max that there is a balcony below the window of his room.

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 CHAPTER-4
A question of trust
➢ Horace Danby was fifty years old and unmarried.
➢ He was usually very well except for attacks of hay fever in summer.
➢ He made locks and was successful in his business.
➢ He robbed a safe every year.
➢ With that money, he bought rare and costly books.
➢ Horace Danby always made a lot of preparations before committing a theft.
➢ He made detailed preparations before committing his latest theft in a house
at Shotover Grange.

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➢ He studied the house, rooms, electric wiring, paths and gardens carefully.
➢ He noted that the two servants were out to movies and saw the housekeeper
hang the key to the kitchen door.
➢ He was caught red-handed when a young lady in red appeared on the scene.
➢ The lady in red played the role of the lady of the house in a very confident and
convincing way.
➢ The lady acted with so much ease, confidence and authority that Horace mistook
her as the lady of the house.
➢ The lady threatened to call the police if he tried to run away from there.
➢ The lady in red allowed Horace to go out on one condition.
➢ She made Horace open the safe.
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➢ Horace thought he was opening the safe for the owner and forgot to wear his
gloves.
➢ Horace handed over all the jewels to her and went away happily.
➢ After two days, Horace was arrested by the police for committing a theft in a
house at Shotover Grange, on the basis of the fingerprints found on the safe.
➢ Horace pleaded that the wife of the owner of the house had asked him to open
the safe for her.
➢ The real lady of the house, a grey-haired sixty-year-old woman stated that the
story of Horace was nonsense.
➢ Only, in the end, it became clear that the real culprit was the lady in red, who was
a thief and burglar like Horace.
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A LETTER TO GOD