My first Magazine A Face in the Dark, Ruskin Bond | Page 4

Answer (ii): The all-boys school in Simla, in which Mr Oliver was a
teacher has been called ‘Eton of the East.’
Life Magazine, in a feature on India, had once called Mr Oliver’s school
‘Eton of the East’ because the school had been run on an English public
school lines and the boys, most of them were from wealthy Indian
families and were supposed to wear blazers, caps and ties. Eton is also a
school in England meant for royalty and elite class. Hence, the
comparison.
Question (iii): What kind of weather was there on the night when
Oliver was returning to his school? How does it add to the setting of
the story?
Answer (iii): That night strong wind was blowing through the pine
forest which created sad, eerie sounds. Supernatural atmosphere is
created by the elements like eerie sounds of the pine trees, batteries of
the torch running down, flickering light, silent sobbing, and lantern
swinging in the middle of the path. All these things prepare us for some
mysterious or uncanny happenings.
Question (iv): What did Oliver encounter while coming back to school
one night? What did he do after that?
Answer (iv): While walking back to school one night, in flickering light
of his torch, he saw a boy who was crying silently with his head hung
down, sitting on a rock.