Introduction
Marguerite St Just, now Lady Blakeney, has followed her husband Sir Percy to France after discovering that that amiable idiot is none other than the dashing Scarlet Pimpernel, responsible for saving so many from the guillotine — including, she hopes, her brother Armand. Concealed behind a curtain in a dirty Calais café, she watches in horror as Citizen Chauvelin draws his net tight around the heedless aristocrat.
ANOTHER three minutes and they would be here! Another three minutes and the awful thing would have occurred: the brave eagle will have fallen in the ferrets’ trap! She would have moved now and screamed, but she dared not; for whilst she heard the soldiers approaching, she was looking at Percy and watching his every movement. He was standing by the table whereon the remnants of the supper, plates, glasses, spoons, salt and pepper-pots were scattered pell-mell. His back was turned to Chauvelin and he was still prattling along in his own affected and inane way, but from his pocket he had taken his snuff-box, and quickly and suddenly he emptied the contents of the pepper-pot into it.
Then he again turned with an inane laugh to Chauvelin —
“Eh? Did you speak, sir?”
Chauvelin had been too intent on listening to the sound of those approaching footsteps, to notice what his cunning adversary had been doing.
Précis
In Baroness Orczy’s ‘Scarlet Pimpernel,’ Marguerite Blakeney is forced to watch on as Citizen Chauvelin’s troops close in on her husband Sir Percy in a little Calais café. But in his excitement Chauvelin does not notice that under the cover of his babble Sir Percy has substituted pepper for the snuff in his snuff box. (55 / 60 words)
In Baroness Orczy’s ‘Scarlet Pimpernel,’ Marguerite Blakeney is forced to watch on as Citizen Chauvelin’s troops close in on her husband Sir Percy in a little Calais café. But in his excitement Chauvelin does not notice that under the cover of his babble Sir Percy has substituted pepper for the snuff in his snuff box.
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Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, otherwise, since, unless, whereas, whether, who.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did Percy empty out his snuff box?
Suggestion
So he could substitute pepper for snuff. (7 words)
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Marguerite heard troops coming. Sir Percy seemed not to. Marguerite dared not warn him.
Variation: Try rewriting your sentence so that it uses one or more of these words: 1. Alert 2. Approach 3. Deaf