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Let’s read the story and find out how cleverly Granny got out of a tricky situation.

          We were all very excited. This holiday was to be spent in Dindigul  where Grandpa
                                                                                         1
          had decided to settle down, because the climate there was good for people with

          weak lungs. His doctor had said that the damp sea air of Madras  would not suit
                                                                                       2
          Grandpa any more.

          Dindigul is near a hill station called Kodaikanal, from                   English- burglar     Language
          where fruits and vegetables came to market every day by                   Hindi – चोर         Connect
          lorry and cart. In Dindigul itself one could get excellent                Your language-

          bananas and grapes, as well as many varieties of vegetables
          and milk too. So, in every way it was an ideal place for
          Grandpa, who had been advised to eat lots of vegetables and drink plenty of milk.

          The house was an old-fashioned one with many rooms, a large garden, a cowshed,

          and a well. Granny, who had lived in a village, had decided to keep a cow, and said she
          would show us how to draw water from the well.

          ‘I will teach you how to milk a
          cow, too,’ she said and laughed.


          Our neighbours told us to be very
          careful at night, to lock all our
          doors and windows, because a
          gang of burglars had been on the
          prowl for some time. The police

          had not been able to catch them,
          though they had tried ever so hard.

          The doors in our house had heavy
          iron bolts and the windows had

          bars. In one room, there was an
          iron safe built into the wall, and
          the family jewels and money were
          kept in this.

          ‘How can any burglar break open

          this safe?’ Grandpa asked.

          One night, when we were fast asleep, the burglars came! They
          were not ordinary thieves. They came armed with knives and                   hill station: a town in the low
                                                                                       mountains
          clubs. They did not try to open the doors or windows. Instead,               on the prowl: moving around
                                                                                       an area and observing
          1  a city in Tamil Nadu                                                      everything
          2  now, Chennai
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