The Hidden Staircase, Chapter XVII. Under Cover of Darkness quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Nancy have to leave The Mansion through a window?

   • The yard man is sleeping on the back porch that night
   • Correct answer: The front and back door keys are missing
   • Rosemary is sitting up awake in the front hall
   • The doors creak too loudly to open without waking anyone

   Both doors are locked and neither key is in its lock, so Nancy climbs out the kitchen window.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. Why doesn't Nancy light her flashlight on the way to Gombet's house?

   • The rain has soaked it and it will not turn on
   • She knows the path well from many earlier visits there
   • The battery is weak and she is saving it for later
   • Correct answer: She does not want to draw attention to herself

   She leaves it off for fear of attracting attention to her movements.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Nancy know the man who steps out of the house is Gombet?

   • Correct answer: The light shows his face and the stoop of his shoulders
   • He is carrying one of his canaries in a small cage
   • He calls out his own name to someone inside
   • She sees his battered auto waiting by the gate

   The light from the window falls on his face, and the stoop of his shoulders is unmistakable.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Nancy decide to do when Gombet walks away?

   • Hurry back to The Mansion to warn the sisters
   • Wait behind the tree until he comes home again
   • Correct answer: Search his house while he is gone
   • Follow him through the rain to see where he goes

   She decides this may be her only chance to get inside his house, so she does not trail him.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What is Gombet planning as he walks away, according to the narrator?

   • To sell his house to the city for a museum
   • To leave Cliffwood that night on the train
   • To ask the sheriff to search The Mansion
   • Correct answer: To kidnap Nancy so her father will give in

   He has decided to bring Carson Drew to terms by kidnapping his daughter.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why is Nancy disappointed when she looks in the kitchen window?

   • She sees that Gombet has already come back home
   • Correct answer: The servant is there, so the house is not empty
   • She cannot see anything because the shades are down
   • The kitchen door is chained and bolted from inside

   With Gombet gone she had hoped to find the house deserted, but the servant is there washing dishes.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. What gives Nancy away after she gets into the cellar?

   • She drops her flashlight with a crash on the floor
   • She sneezes from the damp and dusty cellar air
   • Correct answer: The window grates as it opens and then bangs shut
   • She knocks over a pile of old tin pans

   The window makes a loud grating sound and bangs shut, and the servant comes out to see what caused it.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'murkiness' mean in: 'emerged from the murkiness of the drizzly night'?

   • Correct answer: Gloomy darkness
   • Sudden thunder
   • Cold, fresh wind
   • Bright moonlight

   The house slowly appears out of the dark, misty night.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'interminable' mean in: 'After an interminable wait, they came upstairs'?

   • Full of loud noises
   • Very short and quick
   • Correct answer: Seeming to go on forever
   • Quiet and peaceful

   Nancy is in a hurry, so waiting for the sisters to go to bed seems endless.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Chapter 17?

    • Nancy climbs out through the kitchen window of The Mansion.

      Happened

    • Rosemary wakes up and catches Nancy on the stairs.

      Didn't happen

    • Nancy watches Gombet come out of his house and walk away.

      Happened

    • Nancy knocks at Gombet's front door.

      Didn't happen

    Read the passage