Hi Everyone!! This article will share ‘A Holiday Task’ Questions & Answers.
‘A Holiday Task’ is written by Hector Hugh Munro and it tells us a story of Kenelm Jerton who was a youngish man of ordinary appearance. But when he entered the dining hall he thought that everybody stared at him like he was a notability or super-nut. To carry off with the situation, he asked about the roses that were there on his table in a flower-vase. To his surprise, he got an answer from a pleasant-faced, well-dressed young woman who was sitting at a table that almost touched his table. While they started chatting, he came to know that the young lady had a loss of memory and didn’t remember her name. But she felt she was a noble lady so she asked Kenelm to help her in finding out her name. I have also shared the questions & answers of Goodbye, Mr Chips, Feathered Friend and The Emergence of a Zoo so, you can go through these posts as well.
A Holiday Task Questions & Answers
Question 1: Describe the appearance and dress of Kenelm Jerton when he is first introduced to us.
Answer 1: Kenelm Jerton was a youngish man of ordinary appearance, quiet of dress and unobtrusive of manner.
Question 2: Who did Jerton meet at the hotel? What was the ‘curious thing’ about the person?
Answer 2: Jerton met Mrs Stroope at the hotel. The ‘curious thing’ about her was that she was able to tell Jerton the name of the roses in the flower-vase but she could not remember her own name.
Must Read: The Lady With The Lamp Questions & Answers
Must Read: The Inchcape Rock – Stanza-Wise Summary
Question 3: What happened to Mrs. Stroope while she was going to the hotel?
Answer 3: Mrs. Stroope, had a partial loss of memory. Her ticket reminded her that she had come from Victoria and was bound for Golden Galleon Hotel. She had some money but no visiting cards. She could only remember that she was Lady Somebody – beyond that her mind was blank.
Question 4: What happened when the hotel porter asked Mrs. Stroope of she had any luggage?
Answer 4: When the hotel porter asked Mrs. Stroope if she had any luggage, she invented a dressing-bag and dressbasket. She pretended that they had gone astray. She gave him the name of Smith. The porter brought a dressing-bag and dress-basket labeled Kestrel-Smith.
Question 5: What did Mrs. Stroope ask Jerton to do in the hope that it might help her?
Answer 5: Mrs. Stroope asked Jerton to go through any of the back numbers of Country life and similar kind of papers that he could find in the smoking room to check if he comes across her portrait.
Must Read: Dusk Questions & Answers
Must Read: Questions & Answers Of The Luncheon
A Holiday Task Questions & Answers
Question 6: What ‘useful idea’ occurred to Mrs. Stroope to find out her identity? What did she do to get rid of the luggage?
Answer 6: The lady was sure she belonged to the pivot club. She got the idea of going back to town to ask the hall porter if there were any letters or telephone messages for her. He recognized all the members by sight, and if there were any letters for her he would hand them over to her. In this way, she would get to know her name. But if she didn’t have any letters then she would ask him if he knew who she was and then her identity would be revealed to her.
Mrs. Stroope would have the luggage brought down to the hall and asked Jerton to pretend to mount guard over and wander off to the smoking-room. Then the luggage would be advertised by the hotel and the owner would claim it.
Question 7: How did the Lady conclude that she was neither Lady Starping nor Lady Befnal?
Answer 7: In her quest to identify who she was, the Lady eliminated all the possibilities of who she could not be. She was lunching off lobster Newburg, which is an extravagance because it is one of the most expensive dishes on the menu, but at any rate, it proved that she was not Lady Starping because she never touches shell-fish.
When she recognized a well-known bookmaker in the hotel lobby, she put a tenner on an unnamed filly for three-fifteen race. However, Lady Befnal disapproved of any form of gambling. Hence, she concluded she was neither Lady Starping nor Lady Befnal.
Question 8: How did Jerton finally manage to find out the identity of the lady?
Answer 8: While Jerton was guarding the luggage, two gentlemen strolled by. One of them remarked to the other, if he saw the tall young woman in grey; referring to Mrs. Stroope. Jerton missed hearing the name of the lady. Luckily, the important personage strolled back alone. Jerton asked him the name of the lady in grey he was referring to. Jerton learnt that she was Mrs. Stroope, who was the Lady Champion at golf near where he lived. He also learnt that she was an awful good sort, and went about a good deal in society but she kept losing her memory every now and then. She would get furious if someone ever alluded to it afterwards.
Question 9: What was the commotion about in the hotel? Where did Jerton go and why?
Answer 9: Jerton’s attention was drawn towards a commotion in the hotel after he had found out Mrs. Stroope’s identity from a stranger. An angry-looking lady was making loud and fretful-seeming inquiries of the hotel clerks. She was enquiring about her dress-basket and dressing-case, tagged ’Kestrel-Smith’. She could not trace it anywhere though she had seen it being put in at Victoria. Then, she spotted her luggage and started yelling about the locks being tampered. Jerton was guarding the luggage and he knew who had tampered with it. Fearing that he could fall in trouble; Jerton slipped away, went straight for the Turkish bath and stayed there for a few hours.
Must Read: Lochinvar Stanza-Wise Summary
Must Read: The Last Leaf Questions & Answers
So, these were the Questions & Answers of ‘A Holiday Task’.