Chapter 7 of A Lad of Mettle is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of A Lad of Mettle is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And what of the watchers on South Head? Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship. ‘What is she, Wal?’ said one man. ‘Do you know her name?’ ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
Chapter 7 of A Lad of Mettle is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
marked for certain death
From this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
a tight cluster of people or things
From this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
past form of “obey” — be obedient to
From this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
the land along the edge of a body of water
the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading “And what of the watchers on South Head?”
a request to be present
From this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
plural of “watcher” — a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
From this reading “And what of the watchers on South Head?”
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 “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
In this reading “‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.”
In this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
In this reading “Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.”
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 Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading ‘Do you know her name?’
marked for certain death
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading ‘Do you know her name?’
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘What is she, Wal?’ said one man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
a tight cluster of people or things
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading ‘Do you know her name?’
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading ‘What is she, Wal?’ said one man.
the force of workers available
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading ‘Do you know her name?’
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
past form of “obey” — be obedient to
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘What is she, Wal?’ said one man.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘What is she, Wal?’ said one man.
transport commercially
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading ‘Not for certain; but I’m afraid it’s the _Distant Shore_,’ replied Jessop.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
a request to be present
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
plural of “watcher” — a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading And what of the watchers on South Head?
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Wal Jessop’s summons had been obeyed, and a small knot of men, and one or two women, stood looking out to sea at the doomed ship.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘Do you know her name?’
Chapter 7 of A Lad of Mettle by Nat Gould holds 178 sentences, grouped into 36 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 7 holds 178 sentences of A Lad of Mettle, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of A Lad of Mettle by Nat Gould exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 178 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 7 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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Yes. All 4332 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66030 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66030, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 361 minutes of reading across 867 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Lad of Mettle section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of A Lad of Mettle 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 Lad of Mettle, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
