Chapter 21 of A Battle for Right is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of A Battle for Right is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH. Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house. Here he was obliged to pause for a moment. His heart was pounding and his breath came short. Some little rest he _must_ have!
Chapter 21 of A Battle for Right is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading “His heart was pounding and his breath came short.”
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading “Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.”
under a moral obligation to do something
From this reading “Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.”
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading “Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.”
repeated heavy blows
From this reading “His heart was pounding and his breath came short.”
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading “FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH.”
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
From this reading “Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.”
the upper part of anything
From this reading “Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
temporarily
In this reading “Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
set up or found
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Some little rest he _must_ have!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Some little rest he _must_ have!
a particular point in time
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Some little rest he _must_ have!
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
under a moral obligation to do something
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
repeated heavy blows
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading Some little rest he _must_ have!
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading FIVE SECONDS FROM DEATH.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading His heart was pounding and his breath came short.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some little rest he _must_ have!
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
the upper part of anything
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Here he was obliged to pause for a moment.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Somehow—he never knew how—Nick found his way to the top of the house.
Chapter 21 of A Battle for Right by Nicholas (House name) Carter holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 21 holds 170 sentences of A Battle for Right, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of A Battle for Right by Nicholas (House name) Carter exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 21 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Battle for Right by Nicholas (House name) Carter on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5038 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62428 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62428, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 419 minutes of reading across 1008 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Battle for Right section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of A Battle for Right to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Battle for Right, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
