4.3 The Red-Headed League
Complete textbook exercise solutions — Maharashtra State Board (Balbharati), Grade Seven English.
ShareAdvertisement
English Workshop (Part I)
- Mr Jabez Wilson: An elderly man with fiery red hair. He is a pawn-broker who is easily tricked by his smart assistant.
- Vincent Spaulding (John Clay): Small, stout, with no hair on his face. He has a white splash of acid on his forehead. He is smart, efficient, works for half the wages, and has a keen interest in photography (which he uses as an excuse to go to the cellar).
- Mr Duncan Ross: A red-headed man who acts as the representative of the Red-headed League.
This is a creative visual activity. Students can create a comic strip using the dialogues given in the textbook as a reference. An example is provided below.
Frame 1:
Picture: Mr Wilson sitting in his pawn shop. Spaulding stands nearby.
Dialogue (Spaulding to Wilson): "Will you take me as your assistant? I'll work for half the wages."
Frame 2:
Picture: Spaulding heading downstairs into a dark room.
Dialogue (Spaulding to Wilson): "Sir, there's no work here. I'll go down to the cellar to develop my photos."
Frame 3:
Picture: Spaulding showing a newspaper advertisement to Mr Wilson.
Dialogue (Spaulding to Wilson): "Sir, look at this ad. It is for red-headed people."
Frame 4:
Picture: Mr Wilson sitting at a table in a bare office, copying from a large book.
Dialogue (Duncan Ross): "You have to copy out the Encyclopedia Britannica from ten to two."
Frame 5:
Picture: Mr Wilson staring in shock at a closed door with a note nailed to it.
Caption (Note): "The Red-headed League is dissolved. Oct 9, 1880."
This is a group discussion and imagination activity. Students should guess the mystery before reading Part II (e.g., guessing that Spaulding wanted Wilson out of the shop to steal something).
- can: I can solve this puzzle. (Statement) / Can you help me with this? (Request)
- may: May I borrow your pen? (Permission) / It may rain tonight. (Possibility)
- shall: We shall meet at the station. (Statement) / Shall we begin the meeting? (Suggestion)
- will: I will finish this project by tomorrow. (Intention)
- could: He could run very fast when he was young. (Ability in the past) / Could you pass the salt, please? (Polite request)
- might: They might arrive late due to traffic. (Possibility)
- should: You should complete your homework on time. (Advice)
- would: Would you like a cup of tea? (Offer) / I would always visit the library on Sundays. (Past habit)
- must: You must follow the traffic rules. (Obligation/Order)
- ought to: We ought to respect our elders. (Moral obligation)
- used to: I used to play cricket every evening. (Past habit)
- need: You need not worry about the arrangements. (Necessity)
- dare: How dare you speak to me like that! (Courage/Challenge)
English Workshop (Part II)
The correct chronological order of events based on the story is:
| Adverb | Adjective |
|---|---|
| frankly | frank |
| silently | silent |
| carefully | careful |
| finally | final |
| quickly | quick |
| suddenly | sudden |
| beautifully | beautiful |
This is a creative writing exercise. Students should use their imagination to outline and write their own original mystery story incorporating a detective, a crime, suspects, and an investigation.
The Midnight Mystery
The Sharma family returned home late at night after attending a grand wedding reception. The street was quiet, and the house was exactly as they had left it—dark and securely locked. As Mr. Sharma reached into his pocket for the keys, his son, Rohan, tugged at his sleeve. "Dad, listen," he whispered.
Faint voices were coming from inside the locked house. The family froze. Mrs. Sharma clutched her purse tightly, her heart pounding. They could hear a hushed conversation, sounding suspiciously like two men arguing over where to search next. Believing there were thieves inside, the family quietly moved to the side of the house, arming themselves with an umbrella and a heavy walking stick from the porch.
Getting ready to counter-attack, Mr. Sharma signaled to his family. With a swift motion, he unlocked and threw open the front door. "Don't move!" he shouted, rushing into the living room with the umbrella raised like a sword.
They all entered, flicking on the light switches, fully expecting to confront a gang of burglars. However, no one was seen. The living room was empty, and all their belongings were perfectly intact. The hushed conversation continued, but it wasn't coming from hidden thieves.
The TV was on, glowing softly in the corner of the room, playing a detective serial midway through an intense interrogation scene. In their rush to leave for the wedding, someone had forgotten to switch it off. The family looked at each other, lowered their makeshift weapons, and burst into uncontrollable laughter, relieved that their 'burglars' were just actors on a screen.
This is a continuous vocabulary-building activity. Students should maintain a notebook to collect these words. A few examples to get started are given below.
- Synonyms (Same meaning): begin/start, huge/enormous, quick/fast, rich/wealthy, happy/joyful, sad/sorrowful.
- Antonyms (Opposite meaning): ancient/modern, brave/cowardly, deep/shallow, empty/full, expand/contract, generous/selfish.
- Homonyms (Same spelling/pronunciation, different meaning):
- bat (a flying mammal) / bat (used in cricket)
- bark (sound of a dog) / bark (tree covering)
- match (a game) / match (a stick for lighting fire)
- watch (to look) / watch (a timepiece)