Ausable is a secret agent who does not fit the stereotype - he is overweight and speaks French poorly. When his rival Max enters his room holding a gun, Ausable remains calm and tricks Max into believing there is a balcony outside the window. Max jumps to his death, and Ausable has eliminated the threat without violence. The young writer Fowler accompanies Ausable expecting excitement, but is initially disappointed by Ausable's appearance. However, Fowler gains an authentic thrill witnessing Ausable outwit the armed Max through clever deception rather than force.

1. The Midnight Visitor
By- Robert Arthur Jr.
Central Idea
‘The Midnight Visitor’ is a very thrilling account of a secret agent Ausable who did not fit any description of a secret
agent. He did not live up to the romantic picture of a secret agent that we read in books or see in films. He was rather
flat and sloppy but was gifted with a rare presence of mind. His fertile brain could cook up stories and situations that
would confuse and unnerve his rivals. He outwitted his rival agent Max who had come to take a very important paper
concerning some new missiles and was able to get rid of him.
Message
Wisdom is more powerful than weapon
We should be quick witted, and act calmly and wisely in adverse and dangerous situations
Presence of mind comes out of mental preparedness
Never judge a person by his appearance
Character Sketch
Ausable
Ausable was different from other secret agents in many ways. He had a small room in the musty corridor of a gloomy
French hotel. It was on the sixth and top floor and it was scarcely the setting for a romantic adventure. He was
extremely fat. In spite of living in Paris for over twenty years, he spoke French and German with difficulty and had an
American accent. Instead of getting messages passed secretly to him by beautiful girls, he got only a routine telephone
call for making an appointment. In these ways, he was different from the conventional notion of a secret agent.
Physically, he was not good looking but mentally he was very agile and quick witted. He had a great presence of
mind. He knew all the tricks of his trade. He was very quick to react and could cook up stories that might fit in all
kinds of situations. He did not lose heart in a difficult situation when he faced a man with a pistol in his hand. He
remained cool and cocked up a story about the balcony. He made Max nervous by telling him about the police. He
was able to convince Max that there was a balcony below the window of his room and that the loud knockings at the
door were that of the police. Believing this, Max jumped out of the window only to cry for the last time in his life. In
this way, he managed to kill the crafty Max without any fighting and shooting and got rid of him permanently.
Max
Max was a secret agent and a rival and enemy of Ausable. He was slender, a little less than tall. He appeared crafty
and had the countenance of a fox. There was nothing especially menacing about him except his pistol. He stealthily
entered Ausable’s room to take away a very important paper concerning some new missiles. Max was also slightly
gullible as he easily fell into the trap set by Ausable. He was easily misled by Ausable into believing that there was a
balcony attached to the room. He also believed that the knock at the door was done by the police. His gullibility cost
him his life. He was over confident just because he had a gun pointed at Ausable and Fowler. Max lacked presence of
mind, he was so focused on pointing the gun at both the men that he did not look down for a second to see whether
there was a balcony below the window or not. He just blindly believed Ausable. He could be easily fooled because he
was overconfident and too proud. His pride blinded him and he thought that wielding a gun would give a further edge
over the seemingly slow Ausable. However, despite his apparent pride and confidence, Max was utterly unsuccessful.
So, we can say that Max was “a little spy” before Ausable.
Fowler
Fowler was a young and romantic writer who was looking for some excitement in the company of a secret agent like
Ausable. He wanted to write a book on detectives. Fowler had formed a picture of a detective like James Bond.
According to his imagination, the detective would be young with attractive personality. He assumed a detective to be
surrounded by equipment related to his field. But he was devastated when he met Ausable who was sloppy and lived
on the top floor of a gloomy French hotel. He found Ausable not cracking pistols or surrounded by dark eyed beauties.
He felt let down after meeting Ausable who was just opposite to his imagination. However, Fowler got his first
authentic thrill of the day when he accompanied Ausable to his room and saw a man (Max) holding a gun standing in
the room. At this time Fowler felt that the life of a secret agent could be exciting. He found that Ausable was not at all
perturbed. He cocked-up a story about the balcony outside his window. When the waiter knocked at the door, Ausable
told Max that it would be the police. He told him that he had called the police for the security of the important papers.
Hearing this Max jumped outside the window to the balcony. But there was no balcony. He fell down from the sixth
floor and died. Thus, Fowler was thrilled to see all this. So, towards the end of the story, he was not disappointed with
Ausable.