What did Edmund expect from a telegram?
The telegram boy arrived at Hartwell House on a grey Tuesday morning in March, wheeling his bicycle up the gravel path with the air of a man bearing a crown. Mrs Pritchard, the cook, took the envelope from him at the kitchen door and turned it over twice, as though the paper might confess its secrets if she were stern enough.
'It is for Master Edmund,' she announced. 'I shall take it up myself.'
Edmund was in the library, pretending to read an atlas and watching the rain slide down the window. When he saw the yellow envelope, his stomach turned over. In his experience, telegrams brought one of two things: money, or bad news, and he could not think of anyone likely to send him money.
He slit the envelope with a paper knife. The message was brief, as telegrams always were: ARRIVING THURSDAY STOP SHIP DELAYED BY FOG STOP PREPARE THE BLUE ROOM STOP YOUR FATHER.
Edmund read it three times. Then, to Mrs Pritchard's astonishment, he leapt from his chair, flung the atlas across the carpet and ran whooping up the staircase, shouting that nobody was to touch the blue room, nobody, because it had to be perfect.
'It is for Master Edmund,' she announced. 'I shall take it up myself.'
Edmund was in the library, pretending to read an atlas and watching the rain slide down the window. When he saw the yellow envelope, his stomach turned over. In his experience, telegrams brought one of two things: money, or bad news, and he could not think of anyone likely to send him money.
He slit the envelope with a paper knife. The message was brief, as telegrams always were: ARRIVING THURSDAY STOP SHIP DELAYED BY FOG STOP PREPARE THE BLUE ROOM STOP YOUR FATHER.
Edmund read it three times. Then, to Mrs Pritchard's astonishment, he leapt from his chair, flung the atlas across the carpet and ran whooping up the staircase, shouting that nobody was to touch the blue room, nobody, because it had to be perfect.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Either money or bad news.
- Step 1: The text says telegrams brought 'one of two things'. Step 2. Those were money and bad news. Answer: Either money or bad news. Why not the others: An invitation to a party.: This is not mentioned. A message from the cook.: She delivers it, not writes it. News about the weather.: This is not mentioned.
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