The Hidden Staircase, Chapter XXIV. Nancy Leads the Way quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does the sheriff back away from the kitchen door?

   • He hears Gombet's footsteps on the stairs
   • His deputies call him back to the cellar
   • He wants to fetch more men from the car
   • Correct answer: The servant is aiming a shotgun at him

   He does not dare reach for his own revolver while she holds the shotgun on him.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Nancy ask the deputies left behind to make a little racket?

   • Correct answer: To keep the servant's attention on them
   • To let the Turnbull sisters know they're safe
   • To signal to Gombet that he is surrounded
   • To frighten Gombet's birds into squawking

   The noise will hold the servant's attention at the basement door while Nancy's group comes in another way.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How do Nancy, the sheriff and a deputy get to The Mansion?

   • In Nancy's roadster, with the sisters
   • On foot, through the woods behind the houses
   • Correct answer: In the police car, with the sheriff driving
   • Through the tunnel, starting from the cellar

   The three spring into the police car and the sheriff takes the wheel.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why is the front door of The Mansion unlocked?

   • The yard man was working inside the house
   • Correct answer: The sisters forgot to lock it in their hurry
   • Nancy left it open for the deputies to use
   • Gombet unlocked it on his visit that morning

   In their haste to reach the sheriff's office, the sisters did not fasten the doors and windows.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What worries the sheriff when the panel grates shut behind them?

   • That Gombet heard the noise
   • That the tunnel might flood
   • That his whistle is lost
   • Correct answer: That they might be locked in

   He asks what will happen if they are locked in, and Nancy says she knows the secret.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What threat makes the servant tell where Gombet is?

   • Losing her job and her home with Gombet
   • Correct answer: Going to jail for resisting an officer
   • Having her shotgun taken away for good
   • Being sent away from Cliffwood forever

   Nancy says she will be behind bars within an hour for resisting an officer, and the sheriff agrees.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. How does Nancy learn her father is in the house?

   • Correct answer: She hears Gombet order Carson Drew to sign a paper
   • She sees him at the barred window from the yard
   • She finds her father's hat in the bird room
   • The servant tells her his name in the kitchen

   At the top landing she recognizes Gombet's voice giving Carson Drew one minute to sign.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'treacherous' mean in: 'warning the two behind her of treacherous steps'?

   • Wide and easy to climb
   • Brightly lit and well swept
   • Correct answer: Dangerous and not to be trusted
   • Freshly painted and very slippery to walk on

   Some of the old wooden steps are broken or rotted, so they could give way.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'haggard' mean in: 'Her father, haggard and pale with suffering'?

   • Correct answer: Worn out and tired-looking
   • Cheerful and full of fresh hope
   • Calm and well rested
   • Angry and red in the face

   Carson Drew has been tied up and starved, so he looks worn out.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Chapter 24?

    • The sheriff arrests Gombet's servant in the kitchen.

      Happened

    • The deputies fire a volley through the kitchen door.

      Didn't happen

    • Nancy opens the bird-room panel with a small metal ring.

      Happened

    • Gombet escapes into the tunnel before the police reach him.

      Didn't happen

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