Chapter 4: The Old-Clock Shop

Questions:

Question 1.What made Ray think the visitor was not really a shopper?

Answer:Ray’s rich experience told him that the visitor was not a shopper. One man stood at the door and the other man, with no sign of friendliness in his eyes, came towards him.

Question 2.Why do you think he had come to the shop?

Answer:The visitor did not come to buy anything from the shop. Perhaps, his intention was to rob the owner of the shop. He was in dire need of money.

Question 3.How did Ray communicate with him?

Answer:Ray was deaf and communicated with his customers by writing messages on a notepad. His customers also write their replies on the notepad.

Question 4.What do you think the man said to his friend who waited at the door?

Answer:The older man pointed to his ears and shook his head from side to side. Probably, he conveyed to his friend who waited at the door that the shopkeeper could neither hear nor speak.

Question 5.Ray was not a pawnbroker. Why then did he lend money to people in exchange for their old watches and clocks?

Answer:Ray was not a pawnbroker, a person who lends money at interest on the security of an . article. He did not lend money on interest. However, he was kind and helpful. He could not say ‘no’ to the needy people who place their watches or clocks before him.

Question 6.“The watch was nothing special and yet had great powers.” In what sense did it have ‘great powers’?

Answer:The watch was very ordinary. But it had the power to pull out a person from a difficult situation. The two men got money without committing any crime in the shop. The shopkeeper also saved himself from any untoward incident. Therefore, the watch had great powers.

Question 7.Do you think the man would ever come back to pick up the watch?

Answer:No, the older man would never come back to pick up his watch because he got a price much higher than the cost of the watch.

Question 8.When did, ‘the unfriendly face’ of the visitor turn truly friendly?

Answer:The unfriendly face of the visitor turned truly friendly, when he got a fifty-dollar note for his ordinary watch. He was happy.