Chapter 26 of A Husband by Proxy is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of A Husband by Proxy is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly. He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned. "How did you find out all these things?" he said. "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations." "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
Chapter 26 of A Husband by Proxy is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth
From this reading “STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.”
plural of “disclosure” — the speech act of making something evident
From this reading “STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.”
plural of “investigation” — an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities
From this reading “"From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."”
to some extent; in some degree; not wholly
From this reading “"From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."”
done or occurring in a brief period of time
From this reading “He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.”
divide into slivers or splinters
From this reading “STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.”
so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm
From this reading “STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.”
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.”
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 STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
a youthful male person
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
plural of “disclosure” — the speech act of making something evident
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
plural of “investigation” — an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
to some extent; in some degree; not wholly
From this reading "From Dorothy, partially, and in part from my own investigations."
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
done or occurring in a brief period of time
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
divide into slivers or splinters
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Dorothy didn't go back on the boy like that?"
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was not a man of rapid thoughts; and he was stunned.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading STARTLING DISCLOSURES Durgin sat down on a box, picked up a sliver of wood and began to chew it slowly.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How did you find out all these things?" he said.
Chapter 26 of A Husband by Proxy by Jack Steele holds 145 sentences, grouped into 29 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 26 holds 145 sentences of A Husband by Proxy, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of A Husband by Proxy by Jack Steele exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 145 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 26 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Husband by Proxy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of A Husband by Proxy 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 Husband by Proxy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
