The hack Driver

Question 1.
Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?
Answer:
The lawyer was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins, who was needed as a witness in a law case.
He first thinks that the place must be a sweet and a simple country village.

Question 2.
Who befriends lawyer? Where does he take him?
Answer:
A hack driver at the station, who called himself Bill Magnuson, befriends him. He told the lawyer that he knew Lutkins and would help in finding him. Bill took him to all the places where Lutkins was known to hang out. He took the lawyer to Fritz’s shop, where Lutkins played a lot of poker; to Gustaff’s barber shop and then to Gray’s barber shop; to the poolroom and several other places before finally taking him to Lutkins’ mother’s farm. However, Oliver Lutkins was not found

Question 3.
What does Bill say about Lutkins?
Answer:
Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard person to find as he was always busy in some activity or the other. He owed money to many people, including Bill, and had never paid back anybody. He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.

Page 50
Question 1.
What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Answer:
Bill told the lawyer that he knew mother of Lutkins’. 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 carry it carefully. He also said that she was very tall and bulky. She was very quick and could talk a lot. He said that Lutkins must have heard that somebody was chasing him and consequently would have gone into hiding at his mother’s place.

Question 2.
Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
Answer:
No, the narrator did not serve the summons that day.

Question 3.
Who is Lutkins?
Answer:
The hack driver himself is Lutkins but pretends to be Bill Magnuson. He tricks the lawyer to avoid the summons to be a witness in a case.

Think About It            (Page 53)
Question 1.
When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for Lutkins ? When do you think ‘Bill’ came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
Answer:
No, ‘Bill’ did not know initially that the lawyer was looking for him.
He must have made his plan for fooling the lawyer when the lawyer told him that he was looking for Lutkins, as he knew that he was required as a witness but did not want to give his testimony.

Question 2.
Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is that no one lets out the secret? (Hint : Notice that the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep out of sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s.) Can you find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates the tour?
Answer:
Lutkins never allows the lawyer to reach the placewhere the imaginary Lutkins is supposed to be present at a given time. The way he weaves stories about Lutkins’ vagabond nature and the way he scares the lawyer about Lutkins’ mother are ways of fooling the lawyer devised by the hack driver. Everywhere he does not allow the lawyer to ask about Lutkins but he himself pretends to ask about him, which the villagers are knowing is a pretence. So the villagers also join in the whole drama.

Question 3.
Why do you think Lufkin’s neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer?
Answer:
Almost the entire village had enjoyer Lutkins making a fool of the lawyer. Only Lutkins’ neighbours had not seen the lawyer but had come to know what happened. They wanted to see the gullible man who Lutkins had taken for a ride. That is why tin y wanted to meet him.

Question 4.
After his first day’s experience with the hack driver the lawyer thinks of returning to New Mullion to practice law. Do you think he would have reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
Answer:
No, absolutely not. After knowing how Lutkins had made fool of him, he would never return to New Mullion to practice law.

Question 5.
Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for a ride? CBSE 2015
Answer:
Yes, the lawyer was gullible. He believed every word of what Oliver Lutkins said. He should have asked about Lutkins from other villagers. Instead, he depended completely on the hack driver.

Question 1.
Do we come across persons like Lutkins only in fiction or do we encounter them in real life as well? You can give examples from fiction, or narrate an incident that you have read in the newspaper, or an incident from real life.
Answer:
Persons like Lutkins are found in real life as well. They do not just appear in stories. They are very much real. Newspapers are full of reports of such tricksters. There is this famous con man in ‘David Copperfield’ written by Charles Dickens. His name is Uriah Heep. He traps a gullible, rich old man. The old man depends on him entirely. He takes advantage of his trust and takes all his money. He makes the old man an addict to alcohol. Then he forces the old man to marry his daughter to him.

Question 2.
Who is a ‘con man’, or a confidence trickster?
Answer:
A ‘con man’ or a confidence trickster is a person who makes a fool out of other people. He wins their trust first and then, he gets from them whatever he wants.

Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]

Question 1.
Why did the narrator call his work unpleasant?
Answer:
The narrator was sent to serve summons. He had to go to all sorts of dirty and dangerous places. At times, he was also beaten by those very people. That is why he called his work unpleasant.

Question 2.
Describe the hack driver’s appearance in your own words.
Answer:
The hack driver looked to be about forty years in age. His face was red. He wore dirty and worn out clothes but he was cheerful.

Question 3.
Why does the hack driver offer to ask about Oliver Lutkins? [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
The hack driver was none other than Oliver Lutkins himself. He did not wish to take the summons and go as a witness. So, he pretended to be a hack driver. He offered to help the lawyer so that the lawyer could not come to know about him from someone else.

Question 4.
‘But he was no more dishonest than I’. Explain.
Answer:
The narrator meant to say that the hack driver was as dishonest as him because he was getting paid for riding the narrator on his cart on the pretence of helping him.

Question 5.
The narrator was happy though he had not found Lutkins. Why?
Answer:
The narrator had hated city life. This ride through the village made him very happy. He was overjoyed to meet the hack driver. So he was happy though he had not found Lutkins.

Question 6.
What impressed the narrator most about Bill? Mention any two things.
Answer:
The first quality that struck the narrator was that Bill was a cheerful, friendly and helpful man. Secondly, he loved Bill for his simple and philosophical wisdom.

Question 7.
How did the chief react when the narrator returned to his town?
Answer:
The chief was furious at the narrator’s failure to serve summons on Lutkins. He decided to send a man who knew Ltutkins with the narrator the next day to serve summons on Lutkins.

Question 8.
How does the narrator find Lutkins eventually?
Answer:
The narrator’s companion had seen Lutkins. When the narrator pointed opt the hack driver to him, he told him that the hack driver was Lutkins himself. In this way, the narrator found Lutkins eventually.

Question 9.
Why did Lutkins pretend to be Bill Magnuson? [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
Lutkins pretended to be Bill Magnuson as he did not want to accept the summons and be a witness in the case.

Question 10.
What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’mother? [CBSE 2014]
Answer:
The hack driver told the narrator that Lutkins’ mother was a real terror. He described her as a large and hefty lady with a fierce temper. He also said that she was quick as a cat.

Question 11.
How did the hack driver befool the lawyer?
Answer:
The hack driver was able to befool him as he had not seen Lutkins before. He took him around the village on the protect of searching for Lutkins.

Long Answer (Volue Based) Type Questions [8 Marks each]

Question 1.
The narrator strikes us as a romantic idealist, Do you agree? Support your answer from the text.
Answer:
The narrator is definitely a romantic idealist. He is fresh out of law school. He wants to have a real case. But, as a part of training, he is sent to serve summons. He finds it difficult to understand. He simply dislikes his job as he has to go to all dirty places. Further, he has a very romantic | view of the country. He believes that villages are all pure and peaceful. There is no ugliness of the city in them. He I also thinks that villagers are very honest and decent people. He has a habit of trusting people blindly. He believes in whatever someone says. In fact, he is very gullible. Later on, he realises that a village can also be ugly. He also experiences that villagers are not always simple and honest.

Question 2.
Describe ‘Bill’ as seen through the eyes of the narrator.
Answer:
The narrator was much impressed with Bill. He first meets him at the station. He finds him to be friendly and cheerful. Bill is very helpful in his eyes as he offers to take him around in search of Lutkins. The narrator admires him when he goes looking for Lutkins on his behalf. Bill is full of a wonderful village charm. The narrator finds Bill to have a unique country wisdom. He admires him as a story teller. He appreciates him a lot when Bill even goes to Lutkins’ mother’s place to find him. For the narrator, Bill is a friendly man who helps others generously. He is so impressed by Bill that he decides to settle down in the village.

Question 3.
‘Appearances are often deceptive’. Comment on the statement in the light of your reading of the story.
Answer:
Things are not always what they seem to be. Appearances are often deceptive. The narrator reaches a village in the search of Oliver Lutkins. He meets a hack driver at the station. The driver warns him about Lutkins. He takes him on a tour of the entire village in search of Lutkins. He tells the narrator about his experiences and about the village and its people. The narrator likes him for his helpful and kind nature. He even forgets all about Lutkins. But, the next day he finds out that the hack driver was Oliver Lutkins himself. He realises that a simple and kind person was a trickster in reality.