Chapter 15 of A Fool in Spots is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of A Fool in Spots is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CHLORAL. It was a half hour past midnight. A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway. The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor: “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
Chapter 15 of A Fool in Spots is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
From this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
half asleep
From this reading “The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “It was a half hour past midnight.”
being on the outside or further from a center
From this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
any address at which you dwell more than temporarily
From this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm
From this reading “The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:”
an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)
From this reading “The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:”
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.
In this reading “It was a half hour past midnight.”
In this reading “It was a half hour past midnight.”
In this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
In this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
at or in the front
In this reading “A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.”
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 It was a half hour past midnight.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
cause to be bored
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHLORAL.
the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
half asleep
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
the force of workers available
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
being on the outside or further from a center
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
in the near future
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
any address at which you dwell more than temporarily
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
a thing, without saying which
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a half hour past midnight.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading The bell gave a startling alarm, and presently, from within, a voice asked, with drowsy tremor:
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading A cab drew up in front of a residence in New York, and two men bore something into the outer doorway.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Is that you, Robert, husband?”
Chapter 15 of A Fool in Spots by Hallie Erminie Rives holds 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 15 holds 85 sentences of A Fool in Spots, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of A Fool in Spots by Hallie Erminie Rives exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 15 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 Fool in Spots by Hallie Erminie Rives on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2655 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65018 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65018, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 221 minutes of reading across 531 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Fool in Spots section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of A Fool in Spots 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 Fool in Spots, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
