This The Midnight Visitor summary for Class 10 English gives you the full story, themes, characters, and word meanings in one place. The Midnight Visitor is a clever spy story by Robert Arthur, covered in line with the 2026-27 NCERT for quick board revision.

  • Board Weightage: This story feeds the Literature section, worth roughly 10 marks across extract, short-answer, and long-answer questions.
  • Most Tested Ideas: Ausable's ordinary looks, his balcony trick, and presence of mind over force.
  • 2026-27 NCERT: The chapter is unchanged in the current Footprints Without Feet textbook.

These notes are prepared by Collegedunia's English subject experts, matched to the 2026-27 NCERT Footprints Without Feet textbook, and framed around the last five years of CBSE Board questions.

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The Midnight Visitor Topic-wise Importance for CBSE Boards

Some parts of the story are asked more than others. This table shows where to spend your revision time.

TopicBoard Importance
Ausable as an unusual spyHigh
The balcony trickHigh
The knock and the false police storyHigh
Presence of mind over weaponsMedium

The Midnight Visitor Summary in Simple Words

This The Midnight Visitor summary covers the story in three clear parts.

An Unlikely Secret Agent

Ausable is a secret agent, but he is not the tall, handsome spy of films. He is fat, lives in a small Paris hotel room, and speaks with an American accent. A young writer named Fowler is with him, hoping to see some excitement. Fowler is disappointed by how ordinary Ausable seems.

Easy Tip: Remember that the story sets up Ausable as dull on purpose, to make his cleverness a surprise.

The Midnight Visitor

When they enter the room, they find Max, a rival agent, waiting with a pistol. Max wants an important report that Ausable is expecting. Instead of showing fear, Ausable stays calm and grumbles about a balcony outside his window that other people keep using to sneak in. He says he has already complained to the management and even called the police.

The Clever Escape

Just then a knock is heard. Ausable says it must be the police. Max, afraid of being caught, decides to escape through the window onto the balcony and hang there till the police leave. He climbs out with a scream and falls, because there is no balcony at all. The knock was only the waiter bringing drinks. Ausable has won without a fight.

Easy Tip: The twist is that the balcony and the police were both made up. Learn this ending well.

Themes and Message of The Midnight Visitor

The story carries two ideas that boards test.

  • Intelligence beats force: Ausable defeats an armed enemy using only calm thinking.
  • Looks can deceive: The plain-looking agent turns out to be the sharpest mind in the room.
Remember: Ausable never loses his calm, and it is this calm that lets him invent the balcony story.

The Midnight Visitor Word Meanings

These tough words from the chapter often appear in extract-based questions.

WordMeaning
RomanticHere, exciting and adventurous
FantasticStrange and hard to believe
GrimSerious and stern
BalconyA platform outside an upper window
EnviedWished to have what another has
WobbleTo move unsteadily from side to side

Most Repeated Board Questions on The Midnight Visitor

This The Midnight Visitor summary ends with the questions you must practise. Each has appeared in CBSE-style papers.

  • How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
  • What was the balcony story?
  • How did Ausable get rid of Max?
  • Who was really at the door?

Full question answers: The Midnight Visitor Class 10 English NCERT Solutions

Revised well, this The Midnight Visitor summary from Collegedunia should let you attempt any board question on the chapter with confidence.

More The Midnight Visitor English Class 10 Resources

Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Notes: All Chapters

Open the notes for any other Footprints Without Feet chapter from this table.

The Midnight Visitor Class 10 English Notes FAQs

Ques. Where can I download The Midnight Visitor Class 10 English Notes PDF?

Ans. You can download the The Midnight Visitor Class 10 English Notes PDF directly from this page. Both the Normal and HD versions are free.

Ques. What is the theme of The Midnight Visitor?

Ans. The story shows that intelligence and presence of mind can defeat armed force, and that a person's plain looks can hide a sharp mind.

Ques. Who is Ausable?

Ans. Ausable is the main character, a fat and ordinary-looking secret agent who is actually very clever and calm under pressure.

Ques. Are these notes aligned with the 2026-27 syllabus?

Ans. Yes. This chapter remains Chapter 3 of Footprints Without Feet in the current 2026-27 syllabus, so these notes are fully valid for the board exam.

Ques. Was there really a balcony for a 12th std style answer?

Ans. No. Ausable invented the balcony to trap Max. When Max climbed out to escape, he fell, because no balcony existed below the window.