Question
Kidnapped (excerpt)
Robert Louis Stevenson
1My story begins on a morning early in the month of June in the year 1751. I was seventeen and, my mother and father both dead, I set out to make my fortune. I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house and went down the road. Mr. Campbell, the minister, was waiting for me by the garden gate.
2“Well, Davie, lad,” said he, “I have something for you.” Mr. Campbell handed me a letter. “This is from your father. Before he died, he said ‘give my boy this letter into his hand, and start him off to the house of Shaws, not far from Cramond. That is the place I came from, and that is where my boy should return.’”
3“The house of Shaws!” I cried. “What had my poor father to do with the house of Shaws?”
4Mr. Campbell did not know. I looked down at the sealed letter. It was addressed in these words: “To the hands of Ebenezer Balfour, Esquire, of Shaws, in his house of Shaws, these will be delivered by my son, David Balfour.”
5“A young lad like you should get to Cramond in two days' walk,” Mr. Campbell said…
6We then parted ways. On the second day, I reached Cramond and soon came to a hill that overlooked the house of Shaws. The house was in ruins. No road led up to it; no smoke rose from any of the chimneys; nor was there a garden. My heart sank. Over the last two days, I had been overjoyed to get away from the quiet countryside of my childhood and go to live at a great, busy house, among rich and respected gentlefolk of my own name and blood. I sat down unhappily and watched the house until the sun went down.
7Finally, I saw a thin scroll of smoke rise from the chimney. It meant a fire, and warmth, and food, and some living inhabitant that must have lit it.
8I knocked on the door. Presently, a man's voice asked, “What do you want?”
9“I have come here with a letter,” I said, “to Mr. Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. Is he here?”
10“Who are you?” the man demanded.
11“They call me David Balfour.”
12There came a great rattling of chains and bolts, and the door was cautiously opened. The man was a stooping, narrow-shouldered, clay-faced creature, and his age might have been anything between fifty and seventy. His nightcap was of flannel, and so was the nightgown that he wore over his ragged shirt. He was long unshaved. I took him for a servant.
13He let me in and then asked for the letter. I told him the letter was for Mr. Balfour, not for him.
14“And who do ye think I am?” he said. “Your father was my brother, and I am your uncle, Davie.”
Question
Which aspect of Mr. Ebenezer Balfour's character suggests to the narrator that Mr. Balfour is actually a servant and not the master of the house?
Responses
A Mr. Balfour commanding voice to DavidMr. Balfour commanding voice to David
B Mr. Balfour offering his service to DavidMr. Balfour offering his service to David
C Mr. Balfour's ragged shirt and unshaven faceMr. Balfour's ragged shirt and unshaven face
D Mr. Balfour's extremely sharp way of speaking
Robert Louis Stevenson
1My story begins on a morning early in the month of June in the year 1751. I was seventeen and, my mother and father both dead, I set out to make my fortune. I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house and went down the road. Mr. Campbell, the minister, was waiting for me by the garden gate.
2“Well, Davie, lad,” said he, “I have something for you.” Mr. Campbell handed me a letter. “This is from your father. Before he died, he said ‘give my boy this letter into his hand, and start him off to the house of Shaws, not far from Cramond. That is the place I came from, and that is where my boy should return.’”
3“The house of Shaws!” I cried. “What had my poor father to do with the house of Shaws?”
4Mr. Campbell did not know. I looked down at the sealed letter. It was addressed in these words: “To the hands of Ebenezer Balfour, Esquire, of Shaws, in his house of Shaws, these will be delivered by my son, David Balfour.”
5“A young lad like you should get to Cramond in two days' walk,” Mr. Campbell said…
6We then parted ways. On the second day, I reached Cramond and soon came to a hill that overlooked the house of Shaws. The house was in ruins. No road led up to it; no smoke rose from any of the chimneys; nor was there a garden. My heart sank. Over the last two days, I had been overjoyed to get away from the quiet countryside of my childhood and go to live at a great, busy house, among rich and respected gentlefolk of my own name and blood. I sat down unhappily and watched the house until the sun went down.
7Finally, I saw a thin scroll of smoke rise from the chimney. It meant a fire, and warmth, and food, and some living inhabitant that must have lit it.
8I knocked on the door. Presently, a man's voice asked, “What do you want?”
9“I have come here with a letter,” I said, “to Mr. Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. Is he here?”
10“Who are you?” the man demanded.
11“They call me David Balfour.”
12There came a great rattling of chains and bolts, and the door was cautiously opened. The man was a stooping, narrow-shouldered, clay-faced creature, and his age might have been anything between fifty and seventy. His nightcap was of flannel, and so was the nightgown that he wore over his ragged shirt. He was long unshaved. I took him for a servant.
13He let me in and then asked for the letter. I told him the letter was for Mr. Balfour, not for him.
14“And who do ye think I am?” he said. “Your father was my brother, and I am your uncle, Davie.”
Question
Which aspect of Mr. Ebenezer Balfour's character suggests to the narrator that Mr. Balfour is actually a servant and not the master of the house?
Responses
A Mr. Balfour commanding voice to DavidMr. Balfour commanding voice to David
B Mr. Balfour offering his service to DavidMr. Balfour offering his service to David
C Mr. Balfour's ragged shirt and unshaven faceMr. Balfour's ragged shirt and unshaven face
D Mr. Balfour's extremely sharp way of speaking
Answers
GPT-4o mini
C Mr. Balfour's ragged shirt and unshaven face.