Question

Read the excerpt from the secret chimneys by agatha christie. then, answer the question that follows. very softly he turned the handle of the door. it yielded and swung gently inwards. bill felt virginia close beside him. together they moved noiselessly into the room. at the farther end of the room, the torch was playing upon the holbein picture. silhouetted against it was the figure of a man, standing on a chair and gently tapping on the panelling! his back, of course, was to them, and he merely loomed up as a monstrous shadow. what more they might have seen cannot be told, for at that moment bill's nails squeaked upon the parquet floor. the man swung round, directing the powerful torch full upon them and almost dazzling them with the sudden glare. bill did not hesitate. "go," he roared to virginia, and sprang for his man, as she obediently pressed down the switch of the electric lights. the big chandelier should have been flooded with light; but, instead, all that happened was the click of the switch. the room remained in darkness the next minute the air was filled with panting, scuffling sounds. the torch had fallen to the ground and extinguished itself in the fall. there was the sound of a desperate struggle going on in the darkness, but as to who was getting the better of it, and indeed as to who was taking part in it, virginia had no idea. had there been anyone else in the room besides the man who was tapping the paneling? there might have been. their glimpse had been only a momentary one. virginia felt paralyzed. she hardly knew what to do. she dared not try and join in the struggle. to do so might hamper and not aid bill. her one idea was to stay in the doorway, so that anyone trying to escape should not leave the room that way. at the same time, she disobeyed bill's express instructions and screamed loudly and repeatedly for help. she heard doors opening upstairs, and a sudden gleam of light from the hall and the big staircase. if only bill could hold his man until help came. but at that minute

Answer 1

This excerpt details a tense scene in which Bill and Virginia secretly enter a room and discover a mysterious man tampering with a painting on the wall. A few key details stand out:

- The man is silhouetted against the painting, suggesting he is up to no good and trying to be sneaky. His tapping on the paneling implies he is searching for something hidden behind it.

- When Bill's nails squeak on the floor, alerting the man to their presence, the man quickly turns and shines a powerful torch at them, momentarily blinding them. This shows he is prepared for confrontation if caught.

- When Bill tells Virginia to run and leaps at the man, Virginia tries to turn on the lights but they don't work. This builds suspense and makes the struggle happening in the dark more chaotic.

- Virginia can hear fighting sounds but can't tell who is winning since she can't see. This leaves the outcome uncertain and alarming.

- Virginia screams for help repeatedly, showing her instinct is to get backup to aid Bill against this unknown intruder.

Overall, the excerpt creates a tense, uncertain scene where Bill and Virginia have stumbled upon a mysterious figure up to no good, and must quickly try to apprehend him in darkness and without backup immediately available. The excerpt is meant to make the reader nervous about what will happen next and who will ultimately prevail in the struggle.