NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without
Feet.

About NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet

A simple, exam-focused guide to every chapter of Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet — summaries, themes, and quick-revision tables for NCERT students.

If you're a Class 10 student searching for "NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet," you've probably already noticed that this supplementary reader gets far less attention than First Flight, even though it carries real weight in the board exam. Footprints Without Feet is a collection of ten short stories that mix science fiction, mystery, courage, and a bit of dark humour — and that variety is exactly why students often find it tricky to revise quickly before exams.

This guide breaks down all ten chapters in plain language, chapter by chapter, so you can quickly recall the plot, the central theme, and the key takeaway of each story without re-reading the entire textbook the night before your exam. We've also added quick-reference tables for each chapter, plus a master comparison table at the end that you can use for last-minute revision. Whether you're preparing chapter-wise notes, looking for a quick refresher before a class test, or trying to connect themes across chapters for a long-answer question, this breakdown is designed to make that process faster and clearer.

Quick Chapter Reference Table

Use this table for a fast overview of all ten chapters before diving into detailed summaries below.

Chapter 1: A Triumph of Surgery — James Herriot

A warm, funny story about a vet treating an overweight, overindulged dog named Tricki — and the real lesson it teaches about discipline and love.

"A Triumph of Surgery" follows Mr. Herriot, a veterinary surgeon, as he treats Tricki, a pampered dog belonging to the wealthy and well-meaning Mrs. Pumphrey. Tricki isn't sick in the traditional sense — he's overfed, under-exercised, and generally spoiled to the point of obesity and lethargy. Mrs. Pumphrey, out of sheer affection, keeps feeding him treats even when Herriot warns her against it.

Eventually, Herriot has Tricki admitted to his surgery for an extended stay, away from Mrs. Pumphrey's indulgence. Cut off from rich food and surrounded by other working dogs, Tricki slowly regains his health, energy, and appetite for normal dog food. When he finally returns home, fit and active, Mrs. Pumphrey is overjoyed — and credits Herriot's "surgery" for the transformation, even though no actual surgical procedure took place.

The story is really a gentle commentary on how excessive love, when it isn't paired with discipline, can do more harm than good — a theme that applies just as well to parenting and habit-building as it does to pet care.

A Triumph of Surgery — Chapter Details

Chapter 2: The Thief's Story — Ruskin Bond

A young thief tries to con a simple-hearted man — and ends up learning something about trust he didn't expect to learn.

Hari Singh, a teenage thief, befriends Anil, a kind but financially unstable young man who makes a living through occasional wrestling matches and writing. Hari deliberately gets close to Anil, intending to win his trust and eventually steal his money. Anil, unaware of Hari's intentions, begins teaching him to read and write, treating him with genuine warmth and respect — something Hari has rarely experienced.

One night, after Anil comes home with a large sum of money, Hari sees his opportunity and steals it, planning to flee town by train. But as he sits on the train platform, something stops him — a growing sense of guilt and an unexpected realization that Anil trusted him completely, never once suspecting him of theft. Hari ultimately returns to Anil's house, places the stolen money back, and chooses honesty over easy money.

The story captures a quiet, internal transformation — showing that genuine kindness and trust can change a person more effectively than punishment or suspicion ever could.

The Thief's Story — Chapter Details

Chapter 3: The Midnight Visitor — Robert Arthur

A secret agent outwits a rival spy using nothing but quick thinking and a clever bluff — no gadgets required.

Ausable, an overweight and unremarkable-looking secret agent, surprises a visiting writer named Fowler, who expected someone more dramatic and "James Bond-like." Just as Fowler voices his disappointment, a rival agent named Max bursts into the hotel room, gun in hand, demanding a crucial report Ausable is carrying.

Rather than panicking or fighting back, Ausable calmly invents a story on the spot — claiming there's a secret balcony outside the window used by police for covert surveillance, and that armed officers are likely already watching the room. Max, alarmed, rushes to the (nonexistent) balcony to check, climbs out, and Ausable promptly shuts and locks the window behind him, trapping Max outside.

By the time Fowler realizes what happened, Ausable explains that there was no balcony plot at all — just a believable lie, delivered with total composure, that fooled Max completely. The story is essentially a tribute to the power of presence of mind over physical strength or fancy equipment.

The Midnight Visitor — Chapter Details

Chapter 4: A Question of Trust — Victor Canning

A clever jewel thief tries to outsmart a woman during a burglary — and ends up being outsmarted himself, twice over.

Horace Danby, a mild-mannered locksmith and secret safecracker, plans one careful burglary each year to fund his real passion: collecting rare books. During one such break-in, he encounters a woman in the house who claims she too is there to steal jewels, asking Horace to help her open the safe since she doesn't know how.

Trusting her story, Horace cracks the safe, hands over the jewels, and even ends up locked in a cupboard by the woman as part of what he assumes is her own getaway plan. Later, Horace is arrested by the police — not for the jewel theft, but because the woman turns out to be the actual homeowner, who cleverly used Horace to retrieve her own jewels from the safe (which she'd forgotten the combination to) and then reported a "burglary" to claim insurance money, with Horace conveniently caught as the fall guy.

This story plays with irony — a professional thief who carefully calculates risk gets completely outmanoeuvred by someone far less "criminal" on the surface, making it a sharp lesson on misplaced trust.

A Question of Trust — Chapter Details

Chapter 5: Footprints without Feet — H.G. Wells

The title story — a scientist discovers how to make himself invisible, and quickly learns that invisibility brings more problems than power.

Griffin, a brilliant but reckless scientist, successfully discovers a method to make living tissue invisible and uses it on himself. What initially seems like an incredible scientific triumph quickly turns into a nightmare of practical difficulties — he can't appear in public without clothes (which remain visible), he struggles to find food and shelter, and he becomes increasingly desperate and isolated.

After a series of break-ins and a violent struggle to survive while hiding his condition, Griffin ends up wanted by the police, who eventually track him through his footprints in the snow — the one thing his invisibility cannot hide. The story closes with Griffin's situation growing more precarious as authorities close in, hinting at the larger tragedy his unchecked scientific ambition has caused.

Beyond being a science-fiction thriller, the story is a caution about the consequences of using scientific power without ethical responsibility or thought for practical, human consequences.

Footprints without Feet — Chapter Details

Chapter 6: The Making of a Scientist — Robert W. Peterson

A real-life account of how young Richard Ebright's natural curiosity, fed by a supportive mother, turned into Nobel-level scientific achievement.

This is a biographical account of Richard Ebright, an American scientist who, from a very young age, showed an intense curiosity about the natural world. His mother actively encouraged this interest — gifting him collections, taking him on nature walks, and supporting every new hobby, from butterfly collecting to insect study.

As Ebright grew older, this early curiosity evolved into serious independent research. In high school, he investigated a virus affecting monarch butterfly caterpillars, eventually identifying it as a previously undiscovered organism — a genuinely significant scientific contribution for someone so young. His research continued through college, ultimately contributing to his important later work on cell biology.

The story emphasizes that scientific talent isn't purely about innate genius; it's built through encouraged curiosity, patient mentorship, hands-on exploration, and a willingness to keep questioning and experimenting, even when initial results are unclear.

The Making of a Scientist — Chapter Details

Chapter 7: The Necklace — Guy de Maupassant

A woman borrows a 'diamond' necklace to look wealthy for one night — and spends the next ten years paying for that single choice.

Matilda Loisel, dissatisfied with her modest lifestyle, longs for the luxury and admiration she feels she deserves. When her husband secures invitations to a prestigious party, Matilda borrows what she believes is a diamond necklace from her wealthy friend Madame Forestier to complete her look.

She has a wonderful evening, basking in attention and admiration — but afterward, discovers the necklace is missing. Terrified and ashamed, she and her husband secretly borrow a huge sum of money to buy an identical replacement necklace, never confessing the loss to their friend. The couple spends the next ten years working tirelessly, living in poverty, to repay this enormous debt — completely changing and hardening their lives.

Years later, Matilda runs into Madame Forestier and finally confesses the truth, only to learn the original necklace was fake costume jewellery worth a tiny fraction of what they paid. The story remains a classic lesson in the dangers of vanity, pride, and the assumptions we make about appearances and wealth.

The Necklace — Chapter Details

Chapter 8: Bholi — K.A. Abbas

A girl dismissed by her own family as 'ugly' and 'dumb' finds her voice through education — and refuses to accept a marriage built on deception.

Bholi, real name Sulekha, is considered unattractive and slow by her family due to childhood smallpox scars and a speech difficulty caused by an early accident. Largely ignored and undervalued at home, her life changes when a new village school opens and her father, mainly to avoid a fine, sends her to enroll.

Under the patient encouragement of a kind teacher, Bholi gradually overcomes her shyness, learns to speak more confidently, and discovers her own intelligence and worth — something her family never nurtured. Years later, on her wedding day, the groom, after seeing Bholi's face, demands a dowry increase or threatens to call off the marriage, revealing his real motives.

Bholi, now confident and self-aware thanks to her education, refuses to marry a man like this, choosing self-respect over a socially "acceptable" marriage. The story is a strong statement on the transformative power of education, especially for girls in restrictive social settings.

Bholi — Chapter Details

Chapter 9: The Book That Saved the Earth — Claire Boiko

Martians plan to invade Earth — and are completely defeated by a children's book they can't understand.

This short, comic science-fiction play imagines Martians preparing to invade an apparently "primitive" Earth, deemed undefended after all humans have mysteriously vanished (in reality, they've gone underground to avoid a meteor shower). The Martian Noodle discovers a copy of "Mother Goose" rhymes and reports it to his commander, Think-Tank, as a mysterious "telephone book."

What follows is a series of comic misunderstandings as the Martians try to logically interpret nonsensical nursery rhymes like "Hey diddle diddle" using their advanced but overly literal technology. Their attempts to make sense of the rhymes through a "Deciphering Machine" repeatedly fail and even cause Think-Tank to become mentally unstable from confusion, ultimately leading the Martians to retreat in defeat.

The play uses humour to make a clever point: human imagination, creativity, and nonsense — things that can't be logically computed — turn out to be a strange but effective defense against an invasion built purely on cold logic and data.

The Book That Saved the Earth — Chapter Details

Chapter 10: The Hack Driver — Sinclair Lewis

A young lawyer is sent to track down a fraud suspect — only to be cleverly driven in circles by the very man he's looking for.

A young, inexperienced law clerk is sent to a rural town to serve legal papers on a man named Oliver Lutkins, suspected of fraud. Unable to find Lutkins directly, the narrator hires a local hack (cart) driver to help him locate the man, unaware that the driver himself is actually Lutkins in disguise.

Throughout the day, "the driver" cleverly sends the narrator on a wild chase around town, inventing stories about Lutkins's whereabouts, his reputation, and his supposed family, all while subtly mocking the narrator's naivety. The narrator, completely unaware he has spent the entire day talking directly to his target, eventually returns to the city, only to later learn from his boss that he had been thoroughly fooled the entire time.

The story is a light, humorous take on rural cunning versus city sophistication, showing how confidence and a good story can outsmart formal authority and naive assumptions.

The Hack Driver — Chapter Details

Frequently Asked Questions: Footprints Without Feet

How many chapters are there in Footprints Without Feet for Class 10?

There are 10 chapters in Footprints Without Feet, the supplementary reader for Class 10 English under the NCERT/CBSE syllabus. They range from mystery and science fiction to social drama and comedy.

Is Footprints Without Feet important for the Class 10 board exam?

Yes. Questions from Footprints Without Feet regularly appear in the English board exam, usually as short-answer or value-based questions. While it carries fewer marks than First Flight, skipping it is risky since a few guaranteed marks come directly from this reader.

Which chapter in Footprints Without Feet is considered the most important for exams?

Bholi, The Necklace, and A Question of Trust are frequently asked about because they offer strong thematic material (education, vanity, trust) that examiners like to use for value-based and analytical questions. That said, it's best to be familiar with all 10 chapters rather than skipping any.

What is the central theme of the chapter Footprints Without Feet?

The title chapter, written by H.G. Wells, explores the dangers of scientific power used without ethical responsibility, told through the story of a scientist who makes himself invisible and gradually loses control of his life.

Final Revision Tip

Rather than memorising each story word-for-word, focus on remembering one core conflict and one core lesson per chapter. Most board exam questions test whether you understood the character's choice and what it reveals — not whether you can recall every plot detail. Use the tables above as a 5-minute revision tool the night before your exam.