Footprints ch08 The Hack Driver

CBSE Test Paper 01
The Hack Driver

What did the lawyer’s chief do when the lawyer came back without serving the summon?
How did the hack driver befool the lawyer?
What did Gustaff tell them, when they (the lawyer and Bill) reach his shop?
Why was the lawyer not happy with his job?
What impression did the lawyer get of the delivery man?
The narrator strikes us as a romantic idealist. Do you agree? Write the answer in the context of The Hack Driver.
Why was the lawyer sent to New Mullion? Why could the lawyer not complete his work on that day?
Do you think Lutkins was right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using unfair means? What precautions should one take to avoid a situation like the one in which the lawyer was placed?

CBSE Test Paper 01
The Hack Driver

Solution

The lawyer was befooled by Oliver when he visited Mullins for the first time. He came back empty handed. When the lawyer came back without serving the summon, the chief became very angry. He lost his patience. He sent him back with another guy who knew Oliver Lutkins very well.
The hack driver made a fool of the narrator. He misguided the lawyer by taking him everywhere to find Oliver Lutkins. In fact, Bill (the hack driver), the person who was helping the lawyer find Lutkins, in the end, turned out to be Lutkins himself. He deceived the lawyer and made money. He took the lawyer to all those places where Lutkins could be found and managed quite easily to befool the lawyer.
After the place where Lutkins played poker called 'Fritz', the lawyer and Bill reached Gustaff's barbershop. There the hack-driver went inside and asked if he had seen Lutkins. At this, first Gustaff hesitated a little bit later he understood the trick played by Lutkins and supported him in that. Then replied that he was there a few minutes away. He also asked them to collect thirty-five dollars from Lutkins if they met him. This amount, Lutkins had owed him.
The lawyer was forced to deliver summons, instead of preparing legal briefs. For that task, he had to go to dirty and shadowy corners of the city. He also feared being beaten up by the witnesses. He wanted to do something meaningful related to his job. So, the lawyer was not happy with his job.
The lawyer got a very good impression of the delivery man. He found him a very friendly person. He was a cheerful fellow. He was about forty. He himself offered his help. So the lawyer was very impressed with the delivery man. He did not know that delivery boy himself was Oliver Lutkins who befooled him.
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 the training, he is sent to serve the summons. He finds it difficult to understand. He has 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. 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 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. He also got a lesson to deal carefully with people. The image of a village with friendly people must have changed in his mind. He realizes that a village can also be ugly. He also experiences that villagers are not always simple and honest. There are people who would be cheater and fake.
The lawyer used to work as an apprentice with a law firm. He had to serve the summons on witnesses as a part of his job. The lawyer was sent to New Mullion to serve the summons on a man called Oliver Lutkins. He thought that New Mullion would be a sweet and simple country village. When he reached the town and was making enquiries about Lutkins, he met a hack driver who was, in fact, Lutkins. The lawyer was befriended by a delivery man who introduced himself as Bill. He told him that he knew Lutkins and would help the lawyer in finding him. He took him to all the places where Lutkins was seen or was known to hang out. He took the lawyer to Fritz’s shop, where Lutkins played a lot of pokers to Gustaff’s barber shop and then to Gray’s barber shop; to the poolroom and several other places before finally taking him to Oliver’s mother’s farm. However, Oliver Lutkins was not found. At every place, people said that he had not come there or just missed him by five minutes. The hack driver told the lawyer that Lutkins owed him money also and thus he appeared a genuine and helpful person to the lawyer. Thus Lutkins, very cleverly, fooled the lawyer and he (the lawyer) was not able to complete his work that day.
Lutkins was not right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using unfair means. This shows that Lutkins did not care for the law at all. Fooling others was a trait of his character. However, the lawyer was befooled because he did not do anything himself and depended on Lutkins for all the information. This resulted in his failure to serve the summons to Lutkins. One should not believe in things as they are seen. One should judge every action taken by the other person carefully before accepting it, especially when it is related to the matters of law. Instead of depending on others, one should carry out the inquiries oneself to get a better result.

Footprints ch08 The Hack Driver - CBSE Test Papers