My first Magazine A Face in the Dark, Ruskin Bond | Page 3

A Face in the Dark
Ruskin Bond (b. 1934)
"A Face in the Dark" by Ruskin Bond narrates an incident that revolves
around Mr. Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher who taught in an English
school in Simla. It describes strange and frightening encounter of Mr.
Oliver who spots a faceless boy in the eerie forest in the dark of the
night. Panicked, he drops his torch and in the dark starts running and
bumps into the night watchman who too is faceless.
Extract I
“From
before
Kipling’s
time,
the
school
had
been
run……..the school for several years.”
Question (i): Who was Mr Oliver? What was his usual leisure activity?
Answer (i): Mr Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher, who was teaching in
a school, located on the outskirts of the hill-station of Simla. He was a
bachelor and would usually stroll into the Simla Bazaar town located
three miles from the school, and would return after dark by taking a
shortcut through the pine forest.
Question (ii): What was called ‘Eton of the East’? Why?