Ans: The author had just stepped out of the bathtub, when he heard the noise. 

B. What did the narrator think the unusual sound was? 

      Ans: At first, he thought it was his father or his brother Ray. Next, he suspected that it was a burglar. Later on, he thought that it was a ghost. 

      Ans: The brothers heard like a man running and started up the stairs towards them. They thought that they were coming two at a time. They saw nothing, but only heard the steps. 

D. Who were the narrator neighbours? 

      Ans: The narrator’s neighbours were a retired engraver named Bodwell and his wife. 

      Ans: Mr. Bodwell was shouting, frothing a little and shaking his fist. Mrs. Bodwell wanted to sell their house and go back to Peoria. For some years, he had been in a bad way and was subjected to mild attacks. 

      Ans: Bodwell thought that there were burglars in his house when they heard the mother shout. 

      Ans: The narrator’s grandfather was wearing a long flannel nightgown over long woollen pants, a nightcap and a leather jacket around his chest. 

      Ans: His grandfather was going through fits where he believes he is in the war. He thinks that General Meade’s men are deserting under fire from Stonewall Jackson. 

I. Were the policemen willing to leave the house? 

      Ans: No, the policemen were not willing to leave without getting their hand on somebody besides grandfather. 

      Ans: The author had put on one of his mother’s dress, as he couldn’t find anything else. The reporter looked at him with mingled suspicion and interest.

      Ans: The imagination of the ghost getting into his house lead to a commotion. It caused his mother to throw a shoe through a window of the neighbouring house. It ended with his grandfather shooting a policeman. So the narrator was sorry to have paid attention to the footsteps. 

      Ans: Herman and the author slammed the doors because they thought that someone was coming up their stairs. They were scared as they heard the steps of someone. 

      Ans: The slamming of the doors had awakened their mother.

4. What do you understand by the mother’s act of throwing the shoe? 

      Ans: His mother enormously fancied the thrill of throwing a shoe through a glass window of her neighbour. She is a highly excitable woman. 

5. Why do you think Mrs. Bodwell wanted to sell the house? 

      Ans: Mrs. Bodwell wanted to sell the house, as she wanted to go back to Peoria, due to the frequent mild attacks. 

      Ans: The cops managed to enter the locked house by breaking the glass of the front door. 

7. Why were the policemen prevented from entering grandfather’s room? 

      Ans: The policemen were prevented from entering into grandfather’s room because the narrator realized that it would be bad if they do so. His grandfather was going through a phase, in which he believed that General Meade’s men were beginning to retreat. They were under the control of Stonewall Jackson. 

      Ans: Zither was used by the guinea pig to sleep on it. It would never sleep anywhere except on the zither.

      Ans: His grandfather imagined that the cops were deserters from Meade’s army. He thought that they were trying to hide away in his attic.

      Ans: James, the author comes out of the bathroom, drying himself. At that moment, he hears the footsteps of someone walking downstairs near the dining table. He wakes up his brother Herman. They both listen to the footsteps and gets scared. Their mother wakes up. When she comes to know she alerts her neighbour to call the police. The police arrive with some reporters. They search all over, upstairs and downstairs. When they find nothing, they rush to the attic. The narrator’s grandfather believes that he is still in the war. He thinks that the policemen are deserters. So he starts shooting at them. The policemen leave their house immediately, creating a lot of confusion everywhere. 

      Ans: The police were on hand in a commendably short time. They began banging at the narrator’s front door. When nobody responded, they broke into the house. They searched downstairs and upstairs messing up everything. They opened all the doors and windows. They pulled the drawers and furniture. They began to ransack the floor, pulled beds away from the walls, tore clothes off the hooks in the closets. They also pulled suitcases and boxes off the shelves. Later, they heard some creaking in the attic. They stepped into the attic. As his grandfather thought that they were the deserters from Meade’s army, so he started shooting at them. Then he went back to bed. The cops were unwilling to leave without getting their hand on somebody. They felt it was a defeat for them. They began to poke into things again and finally left the place.