Class 10 English · Original EZT practice
Footprints without Feet - H.G. Wells (Class 10 English, Footprints without Feet, Chapter 5)
Footprints without Feet is Chapter 5 of Class 10 Footprints without Feet (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 26-31) - the title story of the book, from H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man. Two boys watch muddy footprints appear from nowhere on a London street: the trail of Griffin, a scientist who has made himself invisible and misuses the gift at every turn, from arson to burglary. This page gives a full summary, characters, theme and fresh practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - the invisible outlaw
Two boys in London gape as fresh muddy footprints appear from thin air, descend some steps and fade down the street - the work of Griffin, a scientist who swallowed rare drugs and became 'as transparent as a sheet of glass - though it also remained as solid as glass'. Griffin is lawless: when his landlord tried to eject him, he set fire to the house in revenge, stripped off his clothes to escape unseen, and became a homeless, invisible wanderer in bitter mid-winter. For warmth he slips into a big London store at closing time, dresses in stolen clothes - shoes, overcoat, wide-brimmed hat - eats cold meat and coffee, and sleeps on a pile of quilts. Surprised by the assistants next morning, he escapes only by throwing off the clothes and becoming invisible again. At a Drury Lane theatrical shop he finds his disguise: bandages, dark glasses, false nose, bushy side-whiskers and a large hat - then callously attacks the shopkeeper from behind and robs him. At the village of Iping he lodges at the inn. When his money runs out, the clergyman's housekeeping money vanishes from a study that appears empty. Soon after, Mrs Hall's furniture seems to come alive: a sniff by her ear, a hat leaping into her face, a chair that charges at her and pushes the Halls out of the room. Suspicion hardens when Griffin suddenly produces ready cash. Confronted, he throws off bandages, whiskers, spectacles and nose - the people in the bar find themselves staring at a headless man. Constable Jaffers tries to arrest him; Griffin sheds garment after garment, hits out unseen, knocks Jaffers unconscious and shakes himself free.
2. Characters
Griffin: a brilliant but 'rather a lawless person' - the scientist who makes himself invisible and uses it to steal. The two London boys: who spot fresh muddy footprints appearing from nowhere. Mrs Hall: the Iping landlord's wife, who excuses her strange guest because he paid in advance. The clergyman and his wife: victims of the study burglary. Mr Jaffers: the village constable who must arrest 'a man without a head'.
3. Theme
Brilliance without character: Griffin's genius is matched by his lawlessness; the discovery serves revenge and theft. Misuse of science: the story's own question - does he use or misuse his discovery? - answers itself at every step. Invisibility as isolation: his power leaves him homeless, shivering and hunted, not free.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Read the first sighting
Choose the method: Marks without a maker.
EZT practice question
How do the two boys first 'see' the invisible man?
Show the worked solution
- The boys notice the fresh muddy imprints of a pair of bare feet on the steps of a house in the middle of London.
- As they gaze, a fresh footmark appears from nowhere, then another and another.
- The footprints descend the steps and progress down the street, growing fainter until they disappear altogether.
Answer: Fresh muddy footprints appear from nowhere on the steps and progress down the street, one after another, until they fade - the trail of a man they cannot see.
Check: The boys see footprints, never the man - that is the whole mystery of the opening.
Watch for this: Do not say the boys meet Griffin - they only follow his muddy trail.
Now try it yourself
What happens to the footprints at the end of the street?
Check your answer
They grow fainter and fainter and at last disappear altogether.
The fading trail deepens the mystery instead of solving it.
Explain the invisibility
Choose the method: Rare drugs, glass body.
EZT practice question
How did Griffin become invisible, and what stayed solid?
Show the worked solution
- Griffin is a scientist who had been experimenting with invisibility.
- He swallowed certain rare drugs.
- His body became 'as transparent as a sheet of glass - though it also remained as solid as glass': invisible to sight, but still touchable and able to touch.
Answer: He swallowed certain rare drugs; his body became as transparent as a sheet of glass, though it remained as solid as glass - unseen but still solid.
Check: Two halves: the drug that made him transparent and the solidity that remained.
Watch for this: Do not say he vanished or became a ghost - he is physically present throughout.
Now try it yourself
Why does solidity matter to the story?
Check your answer
Because Griffin can still push, hit, steal and be felt - invisibility removes sight, not substance.
Every later incident depends on a solid but unseen man.
Explain the fire
Choose the method: Revenge plus escape.
EZT practice question
Why did Griffin set fire to a house?
Show the worked solution
- Griffin's landlord disliked him and tried to eject him.
- In revenge, Griffin set fire to the house.
- To escape unseen, he stripped off his clothes - becoming a homeless, invisible wanderer in bitter mid-winter.
Answer: His landlord tried to eject him, so the fire was revenge; removing his clothes let him escape unseen - and left him homeless in mid-winter.
Check: Motive (revenge on the landlord) and method of escape (stripping) both belong in the answer.
Watch for this: Do not call the fire an experiment - the textbook frames it as lawless revenge.
Now try it yourself
What price does Griffin pay for escaping unseen?
Check your answer
He is without clothes or shelter, wandering invisible in bitter mid-winter cold.
His power already isolates him before he steals anything.
Account for the store episode
Choose the method: Gained by night, lost by day.
EZT practice question
What does Griffin take from the London store, and why does he lose it all again?
Show the worked solution
- He slips into a big London store at closing time for warmth.
- He dresses in stolen clothes - shoes, an overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat - eats cold meat and coffee, and sleeps on a pile of quilts.
- Next morning the assistants surprise him, and he escapes only by throwing off all the clothes and becoming invisible again.
Answer: He takes warm clothes, shoes, an overcoat, a hat, food and wine; he oversleeps, is chased by the assistants, and escapes only by taking the clothes off again - so he loses everything.
Check: List what he gains, then the single reason he loses it: discovery at dawn.
Watch for this: Do not say the store clothed him permanently - every comfort he steals is temporary.
Now try it yourself
Why did Griffin enter the store in the first place?
Check your answer
For warmth - it was bitter mid-winter and he was naked and homeless.
Need, not greed, starts this episode.
Describe the disguise
Choose the method: Costume from Drury Lane.
EZT practice question
Describe Griffin's Iping disguise and how he pays for it.
Show the worked solution
- At a Drury Lane theatrical shop he assembles his visible self: bandages round his forehead, dark glasses, a false nose, big bushy side-whiskers and a large hat.
- To escape with the goods he callously attacks the shopkeeper from behind.
- He robs the shopkeeper of all the money he can find - that is how the disguise is paid for.
Answer: Bandages round his forehead, dark glasses, a false nose, big bushy side-whiskers and a large hat - paid for by callously attacking the theatrical shopkeeper and robbing him.
Check: Five costume items plus the robbery that funds them.
Watch for this: Do not soften the attack - the textbook calls it callous, and the word carries the theme of misuse.
Now try it yourself
Why does a theatrical shop suit Griffin's need?
Check your answer
It stocks bandages, false noses, whiskers, glasses and hats - everything an invisible man needs to look ordinary.
The disguise makes a headless body pass for a person.
Explain the escape from Jaffers
Choose the method: Off comes the man.
EZT practice question
How does Griffin escape constable Jaffers?
Show the worked solution
- Confronted in the bar, Griffin throws off bandages, whiskers, spectacles and nose - leaving the people staring at a headless man.
- Jaffers, the village constable, still tries to arrest 'a man without a head'.
- Griffin sheds garment after garment until he is completely invisible, strikes unseen blows, knocks Jaffers unconscious and shakes himself free.
Answer: He throws off his garments one by one until he is completely invisible, strikes unseen blows, knocks Jaffers unconscious and slips away.
Check: Order matters: unmasking first, then shedding clothes, then unseen blows.
Watch for this: Do not say Jaffers gives up - he keeps trying to hold a body he cannot see.
Now try it yourself
What sight freezes the people in the bar?
Check your answer
A headless man - Griffin after removing bandages, whiskers, spectacles and false nose.
The visible disguise gone, only the mystery remains.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. The first 'sighting'?
Show answer and reason
Fresh muddy footprints appearing from nowhere on London steps.
Marks without a maker.
2. The method of invisibility?
Show answer and reason
He swallowed certain rare drugs - transparent as glass, still solid.
Unseen but not insubstantial.
3. The Drury Lane disguise?
Show answer and reason
Bandages, dark glasses, false nose, bushy side-whiskers, large hat.
A theatrical shop's costume.
4. The Iping escape?
Show answer and reason
Sheds garment after garment, strikes unseen, knocks Jaffers unconscious.
You cannot hold what you cannot see.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Explain in two sentences why invisibility brings Griffin no safety or happiness.
- List the items of Griffin's disguise and say how he paid for them.
- Contrast Griffin's brilliance with his character, giving one example of each.
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Questions about this practice page
- In Footprints without Feet, how does the invisible man first become visible to others?
- First through his muddy footprints in London, then as a fully dressed figure after he takes clothes from the store.
- Why does Mrs Hall tolerate her strange guest in Footprints without Feet?
- She takes him for an eccentric scientist and he has paid in advance - until his money runs out and the strange events begin.
- What is the central idea of Footprints without Feet?
- A brilliant but lawless scientist misuses invisibility for revenge and theft, and his gift brings him no safety or happiness.
- Is Footprints without Feet the book's title story?
- Yes - it is Chapter 5 of the supplementary reader Footprints without Feet (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 26-31), drawn from H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man.
- Who wrote Footprints without Feet?
- H.G. Wells. The textbook names him as the author, and the book's suggested reading points to his novel The Invisible Man; this page makes no further biographical claims.